Captured
by Drixxy
Summary: I yanked the Plumber’s badge from my neck and tapped the center. “Ben!” I shouted. “Ben, please… Oh you better get this message…” The badge flashed. “Ben, they’re back. I-I don’t know what to do…” I began to cry, falling to my knees. Aikka looked up.
1. Captured

The hallways were dark, dim, and dank. Each footstep was loud. _Clank, clank, clank._ I was unsure of how many of them were carrying me.

My thoughts were stuck on my last battle. My opponent's eyes lit up red, glowing brightly. It was a look I would never forget. It was something that would burn in the back of my mind forever.

I'll remember his words. _We all spend life trying to live, but no one survives in the end._

It's true. Some just have to take their punishment.

I watched the ground, my head hanging low. With each swinging step, an armored guard's foot came into view. These men were trained to death for the unexpected.

They knew exactly who they were dealing with, my left wrist concealed in a stasis shield. They wanted no contradictions. They wanted to make sure I wouldn't fight back. They wanted to break me.

I wouldn't shed a tear. I wouldn't show weakness. I wouldn't break no matter what. They wanted to make my life hell.

After all… I was in this for a life sentence.

Quiet moans came from the cells that we passed. Muffled insults were ignored by me and the guards.

I closed my green eyes and tried to forget. I tried to forget the look on Gwen's face when she knew it was over. I tried to forget everything Kevin had promised me before I left. I tried to forget the look in their eyes when they knew there was nothing they could do.

And it hurts me all the more to know it'll kill them inside when this is all said and done.

I glanced out towards one of the more interesting cells, a vampiric creature snarling and egging me on. Locked away as it may have been, there's no use passing up a good fight. I learned that one from Kevin.

I've yet to learn the usefulness of it…

One of the guards felt he had the right to speak. "We flew you through thousands of light-years to get you here and you have yet to resist…"

I jerked my head to the left, staring at the iron, chicken wire-like flooring.

"I don't blame you…" The guard shook his head.

Moments later I was rudely thrown into a cell. A barrier was turned on almost simultaneously. They wanted no chance of escape.

Welcome to Intergalactic Jail, Tennyson…

ooo

Word Count: 400

Word Cap: 400, of course.

Alien Force oriented.

Have fun guys!


	2. Dinner

_Tink, tink_.

That's what I hear when it's time for dinner. A glowing green stick lands in from the ceiling, made of ectoplasmic energy and proteins, or something…

The other prisoners were allowed time out of their cells. I, according to them, was a high-risk prisoner. I was barely allowed to breathe without someone turning around and pointing a gun through the barrier.

They knew it was impenetrable. They couldn't get in… and I couldn't get out.

I broke the glowing stick into pieces, placing one into my mouth. It was chewy and sticky, like gum. My throat was almost unwilling to swallow it.

The guards were always gone from sun up until sun down. I felt a slight bit of freedom around then, but it was only limited by the cold, metal walls of my cell.

I sighed and tossed the rest of my… _dinner_ under the cheap cot and looked around. This was a cold place for hard criminals. I didn't deserve the punishment I received. I had a probably cause for my crime.

But I was caught. I told Gwen and Kevin to stay out of sight in case I was caught. I wanted to protect them because it was a high-risk situation. It only takes a slight infringement and a hidden wire to send the intergalactic police after you.

I looked at the very device that betrayed me. Covered in a blue, seamless energy stasis shield, the Omnitrix was concealed. I had the Omnitrix for a total of eleven years, now. Only ten and foolish when I'd first received it, fifteen when I'd mastered it…

Now twenty-one and I'm still a damned fool. Grandpa Max was right. My stubbornness would get me in a mess of trouble. Look where it's gotten me.

I looked around the room once more. There were cameras all over this room. I couldn't move without them catching it on record. Thank God there weren't any microphones…

"This blows," I sighed, closing my eyes. "And it's not some 25-to-life. It's just life. Life in an alien prison for a logical crime. I do have to say it was worth it…"

"Was it really worth it, Ben?" a soft, sweet voice asked.

ooo

Word Count: 369

Ooh, a visitor?


	3. Alien Boy

Okay. Screw the word cap. This story doesn't fit with a word cap, it's too creative! xDD

Also, I'm rewriting the third chapter because it doesn't suit me :D I'll add it to this one.

ooo

"Ben Tennyson… My, my… How'd you get locked up, hmm?"

I sat up from the cot, looking out towards the barrier. "Who are you?"

"My name is Drikrgia… Most people just call me Rika, though."

This woman looked like something out of a fairytale book. Her entire figure was almost elf-like in appearance. Her ears were long and pointed, her arms and legs slender… I wasn't sure if it was the blue glow of the barrier keeping me in, but her skin seemed to be a light blue with a tiny bit of green. Her hair was long, flowing silver, falling past her waist.

She had on strange attire, everything seeming to be a type of leather. Her top was cut just under her chest, and the neckline was tied together with leather strings. By Earth's standards, it would be incredibly revealing.

Her standards, it was probably a casual outfit.

My standards? Think of it this way. I'm a young, twenty-one-year-old man sentenced to life in prison with an elfin creature looking into my cell. She's probably one of the most beautiful people I've ever seen…

Wait… what were we talking about?

I got to my feet. "Well, you already know who I am…What are you?"

She smiled, pushing her bangs out of her face. "I'm an Elemental Being of the Sapphire Sun."

I nodded.

"But you never answered my question."

I took my focus off her persistence and looked at her appearance again. It was strange… The one thing that caught my eye was her necklace. She… she looked like she had a Plumber's badge hanging off a leather strip. The badge was smaller than the ones Kevin and Gwen had, probably the size of the Omnitrix's faceplate in diameter. It had that green glow to it.

Maybe she's a Plumber on-guard in the prison?

"I got locked up for doing something stupid." I rolled my eyes. "I deserve it, but at least my friends are alive. At least my planet is safe."

She reached her right hand over and brushed something off her left shoulder. "Ben… behind bars…" She laughed. "I never thought I'd see the day."

"You're a plumber…"

She nodded. "Yep." She leaned back and placed a hand on the ground for support, then sat down in a sloppy fashion. So she didn't steal the badge?

"Do you work here?"

Rika shook her head.

"Then what are you doing here?"

She didn't answer my question. "Was it really worth it, Ben?"

I looked at her, squinting my eyes. "Of course it was worth it! Earth is safe, isn't it? I paid the price for a crime I committed to save the world. That's all that matters."

"…Don't you want to get out of here?"

I sat down, cross-legged, to meet her eye-level. "Only if I get to walk away scot-free. I'm not breaking out… _That_ wouldn't be worth it."

"You're a legend across the universe, and you had to go and do something stupid…" She shook her head, laughing at me.

"What makes you so different from me? If some asshole came to your planet and threatened to kill you and your friends, maybe even the entire human race, wouldn't you have done the same?"

Rika shook her head. "Of course not… I have authorization to do whatever's necessary. I'm a plumber. I wouldn't get in trouble."

"Rika, you don't understand. I have authorization. Not only am I plumber, but I have the Omnitrix. I have special rights."

"If that's true, Ben, then why were you arrested? Why weren't you exempt?" She smiled. She knew she won.

I shook my head. "Because I was considered under a law of treason. I conspired with the enemy. I did what I had to do, all right?!"

"Sheesh, calm down, Alien Boy."

"Boy? I'm twenty one! How old are you?"

Rika smiled. "Ten thousand, six hundred and eighty-four."

Raised an eyebrow. "Right…"

"…Twenty in Earth years."

Now, that made more sense. I nodded. "Why are you in the prison, anyway?" I asked.

"…It's a long story," Rika said after some hesitation.

There was some silence before I began again, "…Why me?"

She cocked her head to the side. "What do you mean?"

"Why are you talking to me? I'm a human, one of the weakest creatures in the universe…"

"You're the Great Ten. If you're not an enemy of the Great Ten, you're a team mate. Currently, you only have… five, if I'm not mistaken. Gwendolyn Tennyson, an energy being; Maxwell Tennyson, your grandfather; Julie Yamamoto, your… mate, is it? Her Galvanic Mechamorph, too. And even Kevin Ethan Levin… I don't even know what the hell _he_ is."

"Julie is not my… _mate_… We broke up a long time ago. I didn't want her to get hurt. It all got so dangerous."

Rika smiled. "Then what is Kevin?"

"He's human… of sorts… I guess. A mutant with absorbing abilities," I laughed.

She sighed. "Well, he's not important. He's… an idgit."

"Idgit?" _Does she mean idiot?_

"…You know, moronic, foolish? Damn, you must be one yourself."

"..No, I've just… never heard… Never mind." Must be a translation gap. "Kevin is really smart… if he's doing something he loves… Him and Gwen are still doing great together."

"You said something happened to Julie?"

I nodded. "It's a long story, but she's not helping us out anymore."

"Hm. Okay. The Great Ten…"

I laughed. "Where did I get that nickname, anyhow?"

"Your ten creatures! The Great Ten was our hero and my species always hoped he would come and save our planet. He was our savior and we prayed every day during the war he would come and take our planet from the peril."

Now I felt guilty. "What happened?"

She held out her hands, a small ball of energy forming. It mocked the shape of an alien ship. "The Corrupted took over my planet, taking the five Elemental Beings as war prisoners. We were sentenced to eternal life in this hell…"

But… she's not a prisoner… right?

"You're one of five?" I asked, scratching my head. Sure, she was nice to look at, but I don't know if I could handle the stress of five people standing out in front of my cell.

Rika nodded. "Yes, the four princes and I. My brothers got sanctioned in another part of the prison."

Now I was confused. She can't be a prisoner or the guards wouldn't let her roam like this. Yet… she said her brothers are locked up in here…

I closed my eyes tightly, turning my head to the left a bit. "Whoa, wait. Doesn't that make you a princess?"

She looked at me like I was stupid. "What did you think I meant when I said '_my_ planet'?"

I laughed nervously.

"Ben, you're the Great Ten. I know I should be pissed majorly—" I noticed the slight translation gap, "—at you for not saving us in our time of need, but you… The Elemental Beings and the entire Cryogaus species look up to you. Me? Not so much," she folded her arms against her chest.

"To be honest, I think you're a stuck-up jerk."

My eyes widened. "Me? Hey! Look who's talking!"

Rika growled and then began shouting something at me loudly in her native tongue.

I could hear the prisoner in the cell to my left scream and moan, annoyed by our argument.

Rika almost immediately stopped, an annoyed look on her face. "Great Ten my ass."

"Rika," I shook my head, "I think we need to talk…"

She giggled. "Really, now?" Rika got to her feet, as did I. Though, Rika reached out towards the barrier, placing her hand against the energy field. Suddenly, her hand slipped through and she walked through the barrier. "That's better," she sighed.

My eyes widened. "How did you—"

"…Unless you know anything about _slavirngrka_, then I doubt highly it's worth explaining."

"Slavink...uhh… What?"

"Exactly."

I sighed. "Forget it. I think you should get out of my cell. I have cameras in here. I'm not exactly considered the nicest prisoner in this place!"

"Don't worry, the cameras can't see me. _Slavirgrka_…," she said slyly.

I blinked a few times, hoping this was all a bad dream and I would wake up back on Earth in my nice, warm bed.

Damn, she may be beautiful, but this is insane.

Rika placed a hand on my shoulder, running the fingers on her other hand through my hair.

I arched an eyebrow.

"You look so different on those holograms… Much cuter in person."

I couldn't help but laugh. "Rika, stop." I pulled both her hands off of me. "Please, leave. I really can't take a harsher punishment."

"Tell me about it." She had an extremely disappointed expression, now. "I guess I'll see you later, Alien Boy." She waved a slender hand in my direction, brushing her fingers against my cheek before gracefully walking back through the barrier and back down the bridge.

"Alien Boy…," I whispered to myself.


	4. Stomp Stomp SLAM!

They finally let me out of my cell. It's not freedom, or the ten minutes the other cell mates get for lunch, but I'm out.

Ten, this time. I counted. Ten carried me out of the cell. _An ironic number_, I thought. They were armed to the gills with guns and other assorted weaponry.

I let out a low growl and kept my eyes closed for a moment. This was going to be torture. I was off to yet another cell—no. An interrogation room for questioning.

Reopening my eyes, I examined the cells we passed. One of Wild Mutt's species was locked up, unshackled, unrestrained. Another of XLR8's. And Big Chill... Even a Grey Matter and a Brain Storm.

And... Rika. Rika? Why the hell is Rika in a cell?!

"Rika!" I shouted. The guards tightened their grips on me, my limps throbbing with the lack of blood.

The elfin girl gave a seductive smile and wave, with a kind of torturous feeling in the air.

I let out a tense breath and relaxed all the muscles in my body. The guards held me off the ground, but lessened their tight grips on me. I sighed. So Rika _is_ a prisoner? Or maybe she phased through another barrier of a cell to talk to another prisoner? No...

There was no one else in that cell.

So... how did she escape from her cell and yet no one noticed? She made it all the way to my sector and was there for at least twenty minutes, and no alarms went off. No one came rushing with arms after her. A guard or two even passed by while she was talking to me, and no one gave it a second thought.

She said she was a Plumber. Maybe she has allowances to roam the prison? No prisoner is that lucky.

She escaped. She used... whatever that word was... Slavink... something... She said the cameras couldn't see her.

Then, why could I? Why could _I_ see her, yet no one else could? And I doubt my cell is the only one with cameras posted from the floor to the ceiling... I wonder how she could just... _walk_ out of her cell without consequences?

I would have to think about it later. The guards opened the door to the room and tossed me inside, ordering me to sit in the metal chair until someone else arrived.

"Piss off!" I spat at them, unwilling to move from the floor if it meant complying to their demands.

They threatened me with their fancy guns and other alien tech. Personally, it didn't bother me. I knew they would never shoot. They couldn't. I held too much information for them to kill me off just yet.

My brown hair fell in front of my eyes. My hands were bound behind my back with yet another set of stasis cuffs, so I couldn't even scratch the annoying itch on my nose.

The guards cautiously left, poking their guns through until the door was safely shut.

I quickly noticed that alien police forces didn't have the all too familiar mirror in the room, evidence that there were no 'secret' viewing rooms. Nor were there any cameras or hints of wires or microphones of any type. This room was entirely sealed off to anyone except those inside. Even the door was sealed around the edges. That is, until someone keyed in a code and slid a translucent card. That's when the seamless wall opened up a door.

The technology was fantastical at the very least.

I tried lifting my head to what would be considered my right side, looking around to see if there was anything to gain leverage on. Nothing. Damn.

Luckily, my legs and feet weren't bound, so I could use those to sit up.

I moved around in an awkward fashion, grunting a bit. My subtle noises grew in volume as they echoed off the metal walls. In what seemed like forever, I finally got myself upright. I tried to blow my hair out of my face, but slight perspiration made half of it stick.

Suddenly, a man walked in. A _human_. Good. Maybe it was a familiar face.

Closer examination, no. No one I knew. Damn.

He looked at me, old, gray eyes angered. I could read him easily; he wanted to know why the hell I wasn't sitting in the chair.

"...I fell," I laughed. I found joked _really_ pissed off the staff here at the prison.

Walking over, the man picked me up by the collar of my black shirt and dropped me carelessly in the metal chair.

I wanted to rub my neck after gasping for air, but my hands were a little... tied up. "What do you really want from me anyway, huh?" I asked, my voice raspy.

"I want you... to tell me everything...,"—he paused quite a few times, flipping through a folder with my mug shot paperclipped to it—"...that you could've... _possibly_ been thinking the night of the incident." He slapped the folder shut, Frisbee-ed it across the metal table, and looked me dead in the eye.

I looked at my bare feet. The wouldn't let me have my shoes, the laces considered weapons. Realizing he was staring, I jerked my head up and glared back confidently. _What did he want to hear..._ "I was thinking I would commit an intergalactic crime... maybe go out for coffee afterwards...," I smirked, laughing quietly yet confidently.

Huh. I _actually_ had a criminal side.

"This is no time for jokes, _Tennyson_!" he slammed his palms against the surface. "We know what you did, you've already been convicted, so there's no point in beating around the bush. Give us what we want and _maybe_ we'll lessen your sentence!"

_Maybe_? Maybe?!

"Why should I give you what you want when all I get is a broken promise, huh?" My hair hung in front of my eyes, an evil smile on my face. I truly looked devious from where the man was standing. My hunched-over position (caused by my arms bound behind my back) only added to the criminal appearance.

The only person who could pick me out of a line up of 'pick the innocent from the guilty' would probably be Rika. Kevin would joke around too much, and Gwen would be blubbering too much for anyone to comprehend "Ben, number thirteen! Him!"

I laughed at my thoughts.

"What's so funny, huh?" he pushed, a fake friendly smile on his face.

_Lie smoothly..._ "I was just thinking of a couple years in the future when I'm out of this joint and track down your scrawny ass."

The smile disappeared instantly. "Look, the deal is on the table. Give us what we want and I'll have the council consider looking at your case."

"So you're saying without giving up all my information, they wouldn't even consider _parole_?"

A crooked smile. This one was sincere and hurtful. "They don't know the meaning of the word."

I pursed my lips, let out a quick breath, and returned to my malevolent pose. As if it was even possible, I made the smile just a little more evil.

A quiet tap came in the direction of the door. "Mister?" A soft, sweet, childish voice came from the other side.

The man groaned and turned around. He punched in a code and slid his card, the door reappearing. Rika, surprisingly, was the soft voice on the other side.

I kept my evil pose.

The man looked a little confused. "Look, a little Plumber girl is trying to save Ben. Here, toss in a few words, I'll allow you that much," he chortled.

Through my mischievous smile, I was grinding my teeth. This man was blatantly insulting Rika... and I was feeling incredibly protective.

Rika's innocent smile turned serious. Rika swung out and hit the man square in the jaw.

This was worth ruining my pose. I threw my head back, laughing heartily. If my hands were free, I would be clapping.

Sadly, the guards keeping the room safe reacted, taking a hold of Rika.

"That's for keeping Ben locked up!" she screeched at the man on the floor, restrained by the armored guards. She then started yelling at him in her own language, my name tossed here and there.

The man rubbed his jaw, looking over at me. "Screw you, kid. You're not worth this kind of trouble." He got to his feet, watching the guards carry Rika off, back to her cell. He rubbed his jaw again. "We'll get what we want from you at some point. One way or another, we will. Now get your ass out of my interrogation room..." He threw his index finger towards the doorway, what was left of the guards coming in after me.

They picked me up and carried me out of the room. I could still hear Rika yelling at the guards, my name still being mentioned.

I smiled, satisfied.

What an eventful interrogation...


	5. Compatible

Forgive meez. I'm listening to Rolling Star by YUI while writing this :D

Trust me. The song kicks ASS!

ooo

"So... What did they want?"

"What else? They wanted to know what I knew..."

Rika sighed. "They're keeping a closer eye on me now..."

I laughed. "I bet. How did you get out this time? Or better yet, how did you get out last time?"

A moment of contemplation.

"And none of that 'not worth explaining' crap."

She smiled. "I can slip through the barriers, as you already know."

I broke another piece off of my dinner, which Rika and I were currently sharing. She was sitting on my cot, and I, on the floor.

"Okay, this has been bothering me since I saw you in the interrogation room," Rika stopped explaining, shaking her head. She held out her hands, a reflective wall of energy projected out. "Please... fix your hair..."

I laughed. It had been scattered around and messed up so many times earlier, from when they tossed me into the room, to when they tossed me back in here. I ran my fingers through it, doing what I could to get it to its natural state. "It's been a rough day and they don't exactly provide mirrors here..."

Rika laughed. "You're lucky I can use my powers in this place."

"Speaking of, that's what's bothering me. How _can_ you use them in a place like this? Wouldn't they have put some lock on them so you couldn't escape?"

She put her hands down, the reflective wall disappearing. "You would think," she sighed. "They can stabilize your Omnitrix, but they can't lock something up that's internal. They could put me in an _aretusiz_, but that wouldn't stop me from verbal incantations."

"_Aretusiz_?"

"Uhm..." She tapped her lower lip with half of the stick of dinner I gave her. "...Straight-sweater, I think."

I laughed. "Straight-jacket. You were close." I took another bite from my half of the dinner. "So, what was that back there, anyway? Did... did you realize I wasn't such a stuck up jerk and just _had_ to save me?" I laughed a little harder.

"Hey, don't look at me, Mr. I'm-going-to-look-all-devilish." She smiled. "You truly fit the part of criminal, Mr. Tennyson."

I shrugged, a smug smile on my face. "Hey, what can I say?"

"Don't get too cocky. You're still stuck in this hell hole."

"So are you..."

We both sighed.

"Hey... at least I can visit you...," Rika admitted quietly.

I looked up. ".....Why me?"

"Whut doo yu meeen?" she asked, her mouth a little occupied with the sticky, glowing crap we had to call food.

"I mean, why not your brothers? Or anyone else locked up here? You called me a stuck up jerk! I assumed that meant I wasn't worth your time let alone a longer sentence for escaping."

She shrugged. "What can I say? You're addicting."

"Addicting... That's probably the only thing I haven't been called in the last forty-eight hours."

We both laughed.

"You give too much conflicting information, Rika. Really, make up your mind because you're confusing me. One minute I'm some stuck up jerk that didn't save your planet, the next, I'm addicting and... and..."

"All right, don't flatter yourself." She rolled her eyes. "We have a lot in common. Well, common interests. Not so much the whole... Omnitrix deal."

I looked at my wrist for a moment, then back at Rika.

"Not many aliens here speak your language, or any of the ones I do."

"Which, might I add,"—I swallowed what I had in my mouth—"you don't speak very well..." She didn't have an accent when speaking English, but whenever she spoke in her language, her native accent came flooding back. I guess it wasn't entirely true that she didn't speak English well...

"Hey! We have some translation gaps. Not my problem! I speak English fluently, to the best of my ability! _Ara ter colotorga aslis! _So shove it, Alien Boy!" She poked what was left of her green dinner at my chest.

I blinked, my eyes wide. "O-o-okay... Sorry." I put my hands up defensively. After a moment, I used my hands for support to stand up. Once on my feet, I turned around and sat down on the cot, only a few inches away from where I was sitting down. I kept a few inches between Rika and I.

"What are you thinking about, Alien Boy?" she asked quietly.

"...A lot, really... There's so much going on, yet so little I can do about it."

She nodded, her head hung low. She had a small piece of the food left, and she twirled it around between her forefinger and thumb before holding it out for me. "You want it?"

I looked at it for a moment, realizing I had finished what little I had. I nodded and took the piece gratefully. It was gone just as fast. "I think this food doesn't sustain me enough."

"It was constructed for the first species to ever become a prisoner in this hell hole. They didn't require much substance... They stuck to it, even when humans and other demanding creatures showed up."

I used the nail on my pinkie to clear whatever green goo was left in my teeth. "How do you know so much about the universe when you, yourself, haven't even traveled anywhere beyond your own solar system?"

"I'm a princess. An _eturae_. I have to know."

_Eturae _must mean heir.

"Here. Look at me."

I turned my head towards her, looking into her eyes.

She giggled. "Your eyes glow, have you ever noticed that?"

I paused for a moment, blinking a few times. "...They do?"

"...Back to the point." She placed a hand on each side of my face. "You can see for yourself."

My vision went blurry, then I saw nothing at all. Nothing but a white glow. Then, I could see a landscape, and hear Rika's narrative.

"My brothers and I were under strict rule ourselves. We had studies, both indoors and out." The scenery changed as she spoke, from a large library to an absolutely incrediblegarden. "We also had to pick apart atoms and molecular structures. It... it was all apart of figuring out the purpose of existence.

"We had to learn about other species. Since we were protected, royalty, we were only allowed to leave the planet if we were meeting with other celestial rulers or if we were visiting our neighboring planet, the Elemental Beings' home world."

"...So, you and your bothers are basically the last of your species?"

She removed her hands from my head and my vision returned. Her expression was solemn. "No, not technically. My brothers and I _are_ a species of our own, but we are related to those we looked after. Our DNA was so similar to theirs, it wasn't worth picking bygone from bygone. Speaking of..." Rika pulled her legs up onto my cot, sitting cross-legged. She turned so she was facing my side and told me to do the same, so I was facing her.

I did.

"Hold out your hands," she told me.

I did that too.

She turned my hands over so my palms were up, then put her hands on top of mine, her palms down. Then her eyes began to give off a glow. "Ha," she laughed, her eyes still glowing.

"W-what are you doing?" I asked, wondering if I should pull my hands back like my life depended on it.

"I'm scanning your DNA's molecular structure. Our species DNA is almost _exactly _the same. _Futunlnato!_" She laughed again.

"_Futunlnato?_"

"Sorry...," she interrupted her laughter. "I meant, uhm... Incredibly?"

"_Incredible_, close."

"Ahh." She pulled her hands back. "Your human DNA has only a few different markers than the Elemental Beings. The only differences are our skin color, the shape of our ears, and the fact that I posses powers and you don't. Well, you do, but it's all harbored in the Omnitrix, not flowing freely."

I smiled. "What are you getting at, Rika."

"We're genetically compatible."

I blinked a few times. "The whole point of that was to see... if we were genetically compatible..."

She nodded. "Not a big deal. I was just curious."

"Curiosity can get you into trouble, Rika."

After a moment, I repeated what I'd said in my mind. That sounded terrible; especially combined with the previous subject, and the tone in my voice.

Rika giggled. "Wow, I don't think I've ever seen a human be able to fit his entire foot inside his mouth." Her applicable thoughts thereafter would've followed, _If that _is_, in fact, the correct coined phrase on his planet..._ Pretty predictable, though I would never be able to tell for sure.

I rolled my eyes. "I still don't think things over before doing or saying something," I mumbled.

She nodded. "It's noticeable." A light blush came over her light-blue features.

Another moment of silence. "Rika..." I looked over at the Omnitrix for a moment. "Do you think you could possibly help me out a little?"

She looked over at me, then traced my gaze to the Omnitrix. She immediately picked up what I was asking for. "Oh! Oh, hell no," she told me with a smile. "Plus, if I do, chances are the guards will put another one on next time they get their hands on you."

"Chances are, if you do, I would be gone before the guards even noticed the stasis shield is off."

Her eyes shifted from me to the other side of the room, a hint of sadness in her eyes.

Did... she not want me to go?

"...Never mind. I'll deal with it. Life in prison isn't so bad," I lied.

"Ben, don't downplay it. You and I both know this sucks. Sucks ass. Life in prison isn't worth the joy ride you took to get here. And damn it if I'll be the person to set you free while I'm still stuck here! You're my only motivation to staying alive in this place. Just knowing that every morning I get to escape my five-by-five cell to see you, a face I can_ trust_, keeps me going. Otherwise, it's pointless. I, like you, am not allowed time out of my cell. I might survive otherwise...

"I'd only been here a day or two, in your time, before you showed up. Word reached sector R-4823 that The Great Ten had finally been locked up. Some where incredibly relieved, others were fearing if he was locked up, what state will the universe be in now? Others said he had what was coming to him... I didn't know how to feel about the whole thing, and I still don't."

I sighed. "Rika..." I tried to reach a hand out to comfort her but she jerked her shoulder away.

"No...," she whispered. "Not anymore. I'm done taking others' pity. I'm a princess, I get that enough from my subjects. I don't need it from you too, Ben Tennyson." She looked back towards me, light in her eyes. "Plus, you're too cute for such a solemn expression."

I laughed, my eyes closed. "If anyone knows how to make a guy feel better in times like this, it's you."

"Academic award, right?"

"...Academy, but yes, I see your point."

We both smiled.

I'd truly found a friend in the strangest of places. I could depend on her... I could talk to her, something I wasn't even able to do with Mother, Father, or even Gwen or Kevin. I felt strangely comfortable around her. No subject seemed to be a touchy subject (except for the destruction of Rika's home world, or the subject of the emotion sadness or anger. Neither of us liked that.) It was all so easy, and it all came so naturally to me.

...I liked it.


	6. Distress

**I'm really sorry for my disappearance guys. With my fifteenth birthday, packing up the house to move back to Cali… It's so hectic around here. I need a break, so I'm writing. I may get to my InuYasha story later…**

ooo

How many hours had I been sitting on the ground in this damned silence? If it wasn't for Rika stealing my bed, I would be sitting up there. However, I had some serious thinking to do, and this was as good of a place as any to do it.

My eyes scanned the impenetrable metal walls around me, watching the cameras that must've thought I was insane.

How much more time did I have in here? Could I survive? I had to… Rika needed me to stay alive… for her own wellbeing. But what about her? Could she stay sane in this hell hole? Would she worry about her brothers too much, or even worry about me? The girl can escape her cell and visit me as often as she wishes, but that doesn't change facts. This place can impose insanity, and that's never good.

"Tick, tock, tick, tock…," Rika giggled, swinging her Plumber's badge in front of my face.

I pushed it aside. "I'm not falling asleep, Rika…"

"Doesn't this… hypnotize you?"

"_I know something else that does_," I muttered, turning to face her. "No, that doesn't work, generally. But we did have an enemy back on our planet that could hypnotize just about anyone and he did, just about everyone. Sublimino, I think it was." I turned back around, facing the metal.

Rika nodded. "So, what are you thinking about, Alien Boy?"

I shrugged. "There's a lot going on…"

She looked around. "Seems like a lot of nothing to me."

"I mean, internally."

Her eyes widened. "A-are you sick? Hurt? What?"

I laughed. "I mean… Rika, you don't want to spend the rest of your life in here, do you?"

"If I recall, you said you didn't want to escape!"

I nodded. "But I've been thinking… a lot… It's not worth it to stay in here, but it's so much easier to escape when you can prove your innocence."

"…How can you prove your innocence, Ben?"

"I don't know, yet…. I'd assume I'd have to be back on Earth… Gwen and Kevin would vouch for me, but they'd never believe Kevin. Not with his record. Gwen is nobody. She has no status in the galaxy. She can't stand on heroic events and say I'm innocent, like I can."

"If you can, why don't they believe you?"

"Once a traitor, always a traitor, they say. It doesn't matter what you've done in the past, it's what you've done that made you a criminal in the first place."

Rika sighed, draping her arms around my neck and chest. "So sad…" Her skin was quite cold, something I hadn't noticed before.

"No. It's a tragedy. It screws up all my plans."

She rested her head on my shoulder, still sitting in the cot. "Can't Gwen and Kevin come up here?"

"We travelled over a thousand light-years to get here. I highly doubt an intergalactic government ship would fly them out here to help see my case. That's just… out of the question." I blinked. "Well… if we were still in contact with Julie… Ship could fly them out." That was pointless, though. Kevin could track down Julie, but she would never agree to help us now.

"I wish I could help," she sighed. "Oh! What about the creator?"

"Of…"

"The Omnitrix?"

"Azmuth? The little guy died in an attack years ago. He couldn't help me anymore."

"You're not making this easy, Alien Boy," she grumbled.

I nodded. "I don't have a lot of options. What about you?"

"They either captured or killed anyone that could help us. _Dumm Nemernici…_"

I hummed, trying to think. Esccaping a heavily guarded prison was easy. Escaping a heavily guarded, intergalactic prison with no transport back to your home planet… not so much.

Rika screamed, pulling her arms back quickly.

I looked up, searching the room. "What?!"

She laughed, mostly toward herself for being so easily scared. "Heh… Breakfast…"

I sighed, "Rika…" The green stick was still rolling around from its strange entrance in the ceiling. I reached forward and picked it up, handing it to Rika. "Here. I'm not hungry."

It was breakfast. That meant I had been awake all night, sitting here… on the floor… That also meant I'd been stuck in this prison for over one hundred hours. I wasn't sure how long the days were here, but it had been almost one hundred and four hours, meaning four days and eight hours on Earth.

It seemed like so much longer than that.

Rika set the glowing stick on the bed, draping her arms around my neck and chest again, her head on my shoulder. "You could ask for a lighter lockdown…"

"What do you mean?"

"You know, free time out of your cell. I was thinking of doing the same thing."

I sighed. "The only way to get a guard's attention is to create a disturbance. They won't listen to me otherwise."

Rika nodded. "I'm tired," she yawned.

"Didn't you just sleep all night?"

"Yeah, but I usually sleep a lot longer. Nights are much longer on my planet."

"Ahh," I yawned, a contagious action.

"Are you tired too, Alien Boy?"

"I was up all night…"

"Ben! You should sleep! You're weak. Human. You know better than that," she chided.

"You're not my mother," I laughed.

"But I do care about your wellbeing, and not sleeping doesn't exactly help prevent insanity!"

I smiled. "Get some sleep. I have some planning to do."

Rika pulled her arms back to her side, but soon grabbed my arms, pulling me up onto the bed. "You're sleeping, Ben Tennyson. You need sleep more than I do."

I blinked. "And you're much stronger than I thought." I sat up, fixing my clothing.

She smiled. "Sleep, damn it! _Nr Agasid!_" Rika stepped off the cot, glaring at me.

I watched her with a sly look, hoping to evade sleep. I wasn't tired, but she wasn't going to let me off the hook any time soon. "…Fine…" I laid back, my hands behind my head. I faced the ceiling, though I could still feel Rika's burning stare.

Rika sighed, glad that I'd given up. "Good boy." She sat on the edge of the cot, her chin in her hands. "I'd sleep but I don't want to go back to my cell."

I smiled, rolling over, now facing the wall. "You'll figure it out."

She nodded. "Sleep well, Alien Boy."

ooo

**LOL 1,111 words! xDD**


	7. Love?

**This one's going to be good! Funny, too, I imagine.**

ooo

I rolled out of bed, hitting the cement (or what felt like it) floor with a loud thud. I opened my eyes slowly, my head now throbbing. Why was I lying on the edge of the bed? Didn't I have more room?

Ignoring my questionable sleeping position, I staggered to my feet, rubbing my newly bruised shoulder. I had time to think now, clearly. I didn't have to be wondering what to do next, or how to escape. Just the silence around me and Rika… Rika?

I caught a light blue hand out of the corner of my eye, still fast asleep in my bed. "What are you still doing here?" I asked, my voice wrecked with exhaustion. With no response from the sleeping elf, I sighed, scanning the room. Other prisoners were awake; I could hear their pleas and cries.

What about me? I surely didn't feel awake, though gravity had forced me to be so. My Omintrix's stasis shield flickered by my waist, laughing at me, at my stupidity.

I sat back down on the cot, hoping not to wake the girl. I spotted her Plumber's badge lying on the ground by the cot, so I leaned over and picked it up, inspecting it. "Can't you help me?" I asked quietly. "You may have gotten me into trouble once or twice, but you've helped me out of it as well." I clutched the badge tightly in my hand, growling, "Damn it."

Plumber's badges were SOS devices, but they were also a ticket to anywhere you wanted to go, if you didn't steal the badge, and your name wasn't on any sort of blacklist, that is. The question was, how far could it send out an SOS?

I tucked the badge safely away in my pocket, waiting to return it to Rika once she woke up.

Now… The silence began, but it wasn't until after I was hit on the head with 'breakfast.' Another day in Hell. That'd meant I'd slept almost twenty-four hours, though I shouldn't be surprised with my lack of sleep the night before. I'd slept longer days and nights in the summer when I was younger.

I'd since lost count of the hours, the time I'd been in prison…

To top it all off, I had the strangest craving for something, and it sure wasn't chili fries. Maybe it was all the talk of Julie, a lost love… Maybe it was love? Companionship? My eyes drifted back to Rika's cold, blue hand.

What about Rika, though? Does her species have the capacity to love? Has she ever loved someone? I find it hard to imagine she hasn't, though she's been locked up in a castle for the majority of her life… Rika did bring up compatibility the other day, however. Maybe she was longing for someone, too…

I shook my head, clearing the thought. No, I would make sure it wasn't love. I can't handle that, not right now.

I needed to get out of there. The prison was driving me to ask questions of myself that I wouldn't normally even think of.

"Rika…," I turned around. "Wake up. We're breaking out of here."


	8. Stop Confusing Me!

**Sorry the last one was so short. I couldn't think of anything else to add between the start and the point where I wanted to stop. I'm hoping to make this one longer and more enjoyable.**

ooo

"What is it, Ben?" she groaned quietly. "Did someone die? Are you hungry?" She sat up slowly, rubbing her eyes. "What's so important that you had to wake me up for?"

I stood up off of the cot, pulling her Plumber's badge out of my pocket. "Turn around."

She raised a brow, but followed my request, pulling her legs back up onto the cot as she turned around. "What's this all about?" she yawned.

I gathered the silver hair that hung behind her, laying it just over her shoulder and out of the way of her neck. I draped the necklace around her neck and tied the leather together again. She'd taken it off yesterday to 'hypnotize' me, though it failed. She never put it back on.

Rika giggled. "Oh, thank you. Was that all, Ben, 'cause it surely didn't seem worth waking me up. I'm still tired…"

I sighed, sitting on the cot next to her.

"Something wrong, Alien Boy?"

"We have to get out of here. I don't care about your morals or how 'stupid' it is, but you need to get this thing off of me."

Rika took in a sharp breath. "Ben Tennyson! What's gotten into you?" She turned around, her feet hitting the floor.

I closed my eyes. "A lot… Just please… get the stasis shield off of me."

Rika gently took my hand. "Ben… think rationally… How are you going to get out of here? The guards are easy to take down, sure. But what about after? How do you get home? Hi-jack a ship? _Jaoks Deiva vuoksi, _Ben. You may get home, but you're going to be on the run for the rest of your life!"

Rika stood up. "If you're going to break out of here, you better think fast. I'm not going to help you for long."

I stood up as well, following Rika as she approach the barrier. "Rika, what are—"

Rika stood on her toes and kissed me, then placed her hand through the barrier. When I didn't respond, her smile fell flat. "What…? Is that not what you do when you're afraid that someone you care about won't make it through the battle?"

A half-confused, half-dazed smile grew on my face, and I laughed quietly in disbelief.

Rika smiled brightly. "We can do it, Alien Boy." She placed her fingers on her Plumber's badge, acting surprised when it started beeping. "Oops…," she giggled. "Looks like help's on the way…"

Then, she walked through the barrier, looking for a guard. Before walking off, she looked back towards me and winked before running off to start a disturbance. "Hey jackass…!" I could hear her yell.

I laughed. How was I going to get out? Rika could help me, but she was off distracting the guards… Then something caught my eyes. The Omnitrix… Rika had taken off the stasis shield, the disrupter sitting on the bed exerting sparks of sorts.

I smiled. She was serious about breaking out of here… So what happened to all the 'think rationally' and 'what are you getting yourself into' mindset? Then again, what happened to 'it's not worth it'? I shouldn't be asking these questions… I know exactly what happened.

Rika.

Without a second thought, I activated the Omnitrix. By then, alarms were blaring from every direction. We were really breaking out of here… Who could get out of here? Who could get through the barrier? Big Chill was my first thought, but I'd seen one of his species locked up here too. Then again, he was immobilized, so he couldn't slip through the barrier, or even the restraints.

Big Chill it is.

"One… Two…," I muttered, then pressed back down the faceplate. Before I could even exhale my last breath, it turned to ice, cold and frigid compared to the warm jail atmosphere.

I had no time to think. I had to get moving. "Rika," I muttered through a cold, raspy voice. I reached a hand out toward the barrier, my hand—along with the rest of my body—turning translucent. It was almost stunning how easily slipped through the barrier.

I sighed. I was free from the cell. Though, it wasn't but a moment before I was spotted, as all the guards were on high alert.

"YOU! Get back in your cell!" one screamed at me, threatening me with his gun.

Who could help in this situation? Big Chill got me through the barrier, but Swampfire would be a better solution to fighting off the guards. Disappearing every two seconds to avoid bullets and shots would exhaust the Omnitrix, but too many quick changes would as well. Swampfire could handle the shots fired at him without using much power, and he could defend himself, if only with his smell.

One quick change later and I was already feeling the effects. I was almost glad Swampfire had no nose. I smiled. "Who wants some?!" I egged on the guards, who only came running that much faster now that they knew who they were dealing with.

"Back down slowly and all you'll get is two weeks in solitary lock-up!" one of the guards shouted, a group surrounding my front.

I held up my hands, trying to think. What could I do now?

Someone bumped into me, followed by a loud scream and someone's fist punching right through where my gut was supposed to be. Looking down, the hand was blue-ish, covered in goo.

A quiet giggle. "Sorry, Alien Boy… I should've known you were there with that _hirveä _stench!" She pulled her hand back trough and walked around. "Oohhh… didn't notice we had company… _Paistab agradar pitää tiefem sranje…" _She walked back around, her back against mine. "More over here, too…"

"We are not in deep shit!" I growled. "Look, just let me take care of it."

"You…. understood me?"

"Not the point! Can we get back to escaping here?" Though I wouldn't have thought Swampfire would have the ability to understand her… Maybe Brainstorm, but not Swampfire…

One of the guards cleared their throat, another questioned if we had surrendered.

"I've got an idea," I whispered to her.

"_Cik daudz laika man ir?"_

"You've got about ten seconds. On my mark… run. They all can't follow us both."

"Uh… Ben… I can't exactly run. Have you noticed that we're kinda surrounded…?" she laughed nervously.

"You got any ideas?"

"Yeah. Close your eyes!" Rika searched for what was supposed to be my hand, grasping it tightly. In an instant, the world around us disappeared, a light engulfing the guards. The light grew too bright, so I obeyed Rika's orders and shut my eyes. When the bright light disappeared, I found myself in the cockpit of a large starship.

The Omnitrix deactivated at my will, giving me a slightly less stagnant (and definitely less rank) view of the ship. "Our getaway car?"

"If… you could call it a 'car,'" she laughed, still holding onto my hand. "I'll be right back. I have one last thing to take care of."

I was still in shock that Rika could do something like that. Where were we? Were we still in the prison? I'd imagine so… but couldn't she just transport us to Earth, then? Maybe not…

There was a loud shriek—one that didn't seem to come from Rika this time—before Rika came running in with something green in her hand.

"What is _that_?!"

"Oh this?" she giggled, holding up what seemed to be a disembodied hand and part of a forearm. She giggled again. "It's a hand."

"Yes, I've established that. Why on Earth would you disembody a hand?"

She smiled, walking up to the controls. "You need a handprint to activate the starships, _torraï. _Duh."

I rolled my eyes. "We better get out of here before the other guards realize where we went."

Rika laughed. "Don't worry, they won't. Most of them are dead now."

Uhm… This is one morbid side of Rika I'd wished I never knew. Rika may have many personalities—including flirty, snobbish, annoying, and clueless, all sitting in as personalities of their own—but this side of her was just… It sure weighed down the scale compared to the others.

"Ben, don't look so horrified," she laughed. "I didn't kill them, you did."

Did that mean I wasn't transported here, but merely possessed? Taken over in a time of need? Or was it an overtake of will with no memories between Rika holding my hand and the time I opened my eyes in the cockpit?

"Rika, you've become too confusing for me," I sighed, sitting down in what seemed like the co-pilot's chair, Rika having taken command of the ship.

One by one, she placed the fingers of the dead hand on a scanner and the ship set off, coordinates locked in by Rika.

"Hey, isn't that how women are supposed to be in the eyes of men? Unexplainable, not understandable…"

"Yeah, but you're not even human. That's what gets me."

"No. I'm not human. I'm Rika." She smiled, glancing over at me from the pilot's chair. "So, how'd you like your stay at intergalactic jail, Tennyson?" she asked.

I hummed, going along with it. "It was nice. Shorter than expected, but nice. I had two square meals a day, shared by some blue monster that broke into my room every now and then… a somewhat less-than comfortable cot which I shared with that same blue monster from time to time…"

"Hey, I'm no monster," Rika growled.

"Who said I was talking about you?" I laughed. "Your skin is more of a pale-tan-blue-green kind of thing."

"Shut up, Alien Boy, before your dig your grave any deeper."

"All right, all right, but hey, you asked."

She smiled. "Indeed I did."

"So…," I cleared my throat, looking out at the passing stars. "What was that little thing back there, anyway?"

"I thought flights were supposed to be quiet," she mumbled.

"I'm serious, Rika."

"I thought you were going to die, Ben. Or… or get locked up for life in a cell I couldn't break into."

I stifled back a laugh, but failed miserably. "It was a kiss. Trust me, there are a lot of worse things you could've done, especially if you're regretting something as small as a kiss. I mean, damn…"

Rika shouted a few sentences—or what seemed like sentences—at me in her native language before slinking back in her chair, her arms folded across her chest. "Who said I regretted it?" she mumbled quietly.

If it wasn't for the ringing in my ears, I might've believed her. "What?" I asked, laughing. "Look, it was a kiss. Live on Earth for a few months and you'll understand why something like that is insignificant."

Rika sniffed in, hiding in her chair.

I was trying to pass it off like it was nothing. Like it didn't matter. Friends kiss friends. I mean, guy _friends_ between girl _friends._ They mean nothing. At that moment, I took it for something else. Now, I was thinking more about home, and how insignificant something like that was back home. Then again, if I was younger it meant something. Now that I'm older…

"See, now you're mad."

"Piss off."

"I knew it," I sighed.

"What'd you expect? Hey… how many girls have ever really cared about you?" she asked, a devious smile on her face.

Oh no. Revenge…

I cringed. "Do you want the truth or something I would tell my friends to keep them off my back?"

She smiled.

"All right, all right. Julie was my first real girlfriend. After I broke up with her… I was afraid to get with anyone else. If I didn't want Julie to get hurt amidst all the battles and chaos, what makes you think I would want any other girl to get hurt, or even killed?"

Her smile grew. "You didn't have the stones to ask anyone else, did you?"

"Did too!" I retorted. "Hell, there's been a handful."

Rika raised an eyebrow. "Minus your mother, your cousin, and any other family, Alien Boy."

"I wouldn't ask out my cousin _or_ my mother, that's just wrong, Rika."

Rika shrugged. "I've heard stories, you can't blame me."

"If you said we were related, I would run for my life."

She laughed. "Oh! So you're implying you're interested in me!"

I looked to the far side of the window, then straight ahead, focusing on Rika out of the corner of my eye.

"I knew it! See, see, I'm a good judge of character!" she smiled proudly.

"Judge of character? You can barely keep your own personalities in line!"

"I resent that!" she growled. "I'm just… spontaneous!"

"Sounds more like PMS to me." I crossed my arms.

Rika sat up straight in her chair, swiveling it around to face my chair.

"You're a girl, I forgot. Let's run through the list, shall we?" I smiled, turning my chair to face her too. "Since we've boarded the ship, you've run through these moods… or personalities, I'm not sure. Smartass, morbid, clueless, anger, vengeful, then more anger. My guess is if you cycle around, your next mood will either be flirty or… plain old confusing."

"So now I'm predictable!"

I smiled.

"Arriving near the planet Earth," the onboard auto-pilot announced.

Rika and I both quickly spun our chairs around, ignoring each other until Rika made a move.

She grasped her Plumber's badge and pulled it from her neck, the leather strap snapping near the knot. "Here. Your friends are waiting at the coordinates listed here."

"What, you're not coming with me?"

She didn't answer.

"Damn it, don't be immature. You act like I do when I was ten…"

"I'll only come with you on one condition."

"And what would that be?" I asked her, standing up from my chair to take the badge from her.

She stood up, draping her arms over my shoulders. "You stop being so stupid and let me be Rika."

I rolled my eyes. "You almost had me scared, there."

"The Great Ten? Scared? Oh, now _that_'s a sight to see."

"Actually, here on Earth… you might be the sight."

Rika let her arms fall to her side. "Is that some kind of perverted remark?"

I shook my head. "No, no… I mean, blue skin? Pointed ears? You look like something out of a fairytale book. I don't think you should be parading around outside in broad daylight… Who knows who might see you and if they'd alert the authorities."

"You're implying that I'm coming with you."

"I'm also implying that I'm going to stop being stupid."

She smiled. "So it seems."

I dropped her badge in my pocket, then reached a hand up to scratch at my scalp.

"Okay, maybe not entirely. You're still human. A human can only be so smart, or modest for that matter."

I laughed. "Modest? Look at what you're wearing."

"Look at what _you're_ wearing! It's… ugly!"

I laughed even harder now. "If you take away the elfin features, you look like a hooker."

"Just shut up, Ben, before you dig any deeper." She sat down in her chair, looking up at me. "Either be Ben, or be human. You can't be both."

As confusing as that statement was, I decided not to argue with her any further. It was pointless and we just kept going in circles. Plus, it wasn't exactly helping my case. I'd just gotten out of intergalactic prison. If I pissed her off, she could turn the ship around and dump me off on the prison and leave.

That would be tragic. Not to mention I would never see her again, if I even lived to see tomorrow.

The ship gently touched down on the surface of Earth, and I finally felt at home. I was safe… until the guards came after me. Then again, I had back up now, and I wouldn't go so easily this time.

"Welcome home, Alien Boy," Rika said melodically.

ooo

**Sorry, I think this one was a little confusing too, but I was venting, and not just for the characters. It was pent up anger I needed to get out and I did it. So the next chapter will be a little more emotional, though it may not be as long and hopefully won't be near as confusing.**


	9. Home

**Let's hope for the best…**

ooo

Rika didn't budge from her chair, but I shot out of mine, inching ever closer to the exit. As far as I know, and as the badge in my pocket beeped loudly to remind me, Gwen and Kevin were waiting for me outside of the ship. It was either them or a band of angry Plumbers waiting to kill the traitor, Ben 10.

I hoped it was Gwen and Kevin. If anyone were to beat the shit out of me the second I stepped foot off the ship, I'd rather it was Kevin.

I could hear Rika humming a quiet lullaby, though it grew distant with each step. Wasn't she coming off the ship with me?

One more step and I was at a door, which opened automatically. The cracked dirt sat an inch below, grass growing sporadically here and there. Earth. The planet I called home. Oh, how I missed it…

I took another step and I felt at home. I was back home… The reality finally hit me that I was free for the moment. I still hadn't looked up, considering kissing the ground I walked on. However, one word in an all-too familiar voice brought my gaze up, and my feet running.

"Ben…"

Bright green eyes, long orange hair… She was the cousin I missed, the one person I missed the most.

I ran as fast as I could, almost bowling the girl over as I embraced her in my arms. "I'm so glad to be home…"

Between quiet sobs, Gwen found the resolve to speak. "We… we got your SOS… How did you get out?"

I didn't answer her, finding myself being pried from Gwen by a pair of metal-stricken hands. Kevin. "All right, let go, would ya?"

"Get your hands off of him!" another voice joined in.

Kevin let go, his hands returning to normal. He turned around. "What the—!" Kevin was forcibly pushed into me, and I did my best to stand firm on the ground, but we both fell, and thank God I rolled out of the way.

Looking up, Rika had punched Kevin, and Kevin looked like he was in a pure state of shock.

"Who the hell are you?!" Gwen shouted, her hands glowing.

I quickly rose to my feet, pushing Kevin off of my legs. "Don't hurt her!"

Kevin and Gwen looked at me.

"She helped me escape the prison. Her name is Rika."

Rika smiled, bowing respectively. "I'm Drikrgia. You're… Kevin Ethan Levin, right? Sorry about that…" She held out a hand to help him up.

Gwen let her hands fall cautiously to her sides, watching the light blue skinned girl.

"Oh-ho, no. After that, I don't trust you. I'll stand up on my own." And Kevin did, using his knee for support.

"I'm sorry, this is all just a little sudden," Gwen said, sounding just a bit confused. "I'm Gwen, this is Kevin, though you seem to know us just as well."

Rika nodded, taking her hand back. "I've studied up on the Great Ten back on my home planet. I know a lot about you guys."

I scratched at my skull, feeling a bit ignored. After all, I'm home after a supposed life sentence and everyone's paying attention to Rika? "Uhm. Hello?" I waved a bit. No response. They were all focused on the alien.

"The Great Ten?" Kevin laughed. "The only thing Ben's been great at is getting himself into trouble!"

Gwen slapped his arm, hushing him. "We're both glad you're back."

I smiled. Finally, some recognition.

Rika quietly growled, walking around to stand by my side. "Well, you're home, Alien Boy. Now what?"

"First, we have to get you out of sight until we figure out what to do."

"Ooh, what a great plan. How will you hide her at your folk's place?"

"What happened to my apartment?!"

Kevin smiled. "The second they heard you dropped off the face of the earth they rented it out."

Gwen raised an eyebrow. "You mean the second you told them…"

"Well, maybe…"

I sighed. "It'll only take a day to get another one. Until then, I might as well tell Mom and Dad I'm back."

Kevin looked around. "Oh. So you just assume because I'm the only one with a car that I'm driving you both back? Why don't you take your ship?!"

Rika rolled her eyes. "Right."

"Just drive them back. You still have his bike, remember?" Gwen reminded Kevin, making her way back to the ironic green and black car. After all the upgrades, Kevin couldn't bear to part with it. Even after the thousands of totaling wrecks it'd been in, he's always fixed it right back up and continued driving it. I commend him for the dedication, now if only he could be that way with Gwen…

Rika clung to my side, her cold hands wrapped around my upper arm.

Kevin looked at us, a brow raised.

"I'll explain later."

He rolled his eyes, then looked towards the ship. "What about that thing?"

"Oh!" Rika gasped. "I'll take care of it." She skipped off towards the ship, placing her hand on the exterior. In a moment, after a few inaudible incantations, the ship disappeared in the blink of an eye.

I just smiled while Kevin stood there, questioning reality. "That's Rika for you. It's better not to question it," I muttered, Rika clinging to my side again.

He watched me, then Rika warily before following after Gwen. "I don't know what all she can do but if she scratches the car or wrecks the upholstery, she's dead!"

Rika's grip on my arm grew tighter and more painful.

"Uh… Ignore him?" I winced.

Her grip soon lightened up and we moved towards his car, letting ourselves in. Rika slid in first and I followed. "So, this is a car, right? That thing you were talking about earlier?"

I nodded. "The getaway car."

Kevin rested his elbow on the door armrest, resting his head in the palm of his head. He was trying to ignore the high-pitched girl sitting in the backseat.

"So, how'd you meet Ben?" Gwen asked, turning around to see us both.

"I broke into his cell," she smiled.

I rolled my eyes. "More like stood outside my cell and _then_ broke in."

"Semantics."

Gwen laughed.

"She stole my dinner half the time."

"_Stole_?! You offered it to me!"

Gwen shook her head. "Guys, stop arguing. You two act like Ben and I did when we were ten."

"Doesn't say much, considering we're cousins and Rika and I are—"

"Are what, Ben?" Rika asked.

Kevin laughed. "Sounds like something's going on, eh?"

I shook my head. "Absolutely nothing is going on!"

Rika growled, pinning herself against the back corner of the seat near the seatbelt which she neglected to put on.

Gwen sighed. "We can work this out later, _Ben_. As for right now, we need to get you home. Start thinking of an explanation for your parents if you're not going to tell them the truth."

"Liar liar," Rika mumbled.

"How… old are you?" Kevin asked.

"I'm twenty, thank you!"

"You act like you're eight," he laughed.

Rika growled, muttering something in her native language that I didn't understand. She was probably threatening him or muttering something about a gruesome murder. I didn't blame her.

"From what I've learned, silence is safest," I laughed nervously. "To avoid getting into anymore arguments with anyone, I'm sticking to myself."

Kevin rolled his eyes, and Gwen turned to face forward again. Though Rika and I were quiet, Kevin and Gwen argued amongst themselves about a matter that didn't seem to concern me.

Rika looked up from her angered position with saddened eyes. She watched me warily, though I tried to ignore her. She inched away from the seatbelt, scooting closer to me. Her words echoed in my head, "_What can I say? You're addicting._" All I could think after that was, _Why did I ever think the end of the world was such a bad thing?_

I was slowly digging my grave by being in contact with Rika. She couldn't seem to stay mad at me for long, and I found myself worrying about her when she wasn't around.

"Get out of my car."

"Huh?" I looked up.

"Get out. Of my car." Kevin unlocked the doors.

I realized we'd come to a stop, through the area seemed unfamiliar to me. I obeyed Kevin anyway and led Rika out of the car. Where were we…? The place seemed abandoned, wrecked, and burned around several old buildings.

This was Kevin's old warehouse.

He used to store alien tech here where no one would look. It was the perfect hiding place. But why would he drop me off here? I have no business there…

"I'm done carrying around your shit," Kevin grumbled, tossing something at me through the car window before speeding off. "And I'm sure as hell done being Ben Tennyson!"

Looking past the dust cloud, I picked up an old, leather wallet. Sifting through it, it was my license, money I'd left behind, keys, social security card, my birth certificate, and a credit card or two. Legally, I was Ben Tennyson again.

Normally, I wouldn't keep such important information in my wallet, but I knew what was coming, and I didn't know how long I would be gone. I entrusted it to Kevin (a fatal mistake in any other case) but it paid off.

"What is it?" Rika asked quietly.

"A little piece of home…" I shoved the wallet into my pocket, dangling a set of keys off my index finger.

Rika smiled. "I don't get it."

I smiled as well, telling her to wait there while I went into the warehouse. Only a minute later, I started up a loud engine, driving it out of the warehouse.

"Is that like… a bicycle?" Rika asked, talking loudly over the engine.

I laughed. "Close. Motorcycle."

"So… a bike… with a motor…"

I took in a deep breath, letting it go. "Get on. I'll take you to my parents' house so I can go find an apartment."

She looked at the machine questionably, attempting to sit on the seat in an awkward fashion. After a try or two, she succeeded and we were off. "I don't like this thing!"

I smiled, trying to find my way out of the strange lot. "It takes some getting used to. Hold on tight!"

Rika wrapped her arms around my waist and her chin on my shoulder. "This… I don't mind."

I laughed. "That takes some getting used to as well."

ooo

**So I hope I didn't make Kevin too big of an asshole. I tried to capture Gwen's snarkiness and almost mother-like governing. And Rika seemed a little off in this one after they got into Kevin's car (I think the damn thing is a '10 Camero. If it is, Kevin is going to DIE (jk)) but I tried to make up for it after they got out of the car. I think I fixed it… Anyway, new chapter later. Maybe today, maybe not.**


	10. Food!

**I'm feeling quite inquisitive. A bit… interrogative. Maybe I'll torture Ben a bit –evil laugh-**

**I'm also really depressed and a bit suicidal. A review or two you really help me… Please, someone send in a few reviews.**

ooo

"You… can let go now…"

Rika shivered. "I-I'm not going to fall, am I?"

"You can kill guards and break out of an intergalactic prison, yet you're afraid you're going to fall off a motorcycle?" I laughed.

"I have a problem with heights and fast moving objects!" she tightened her grip around me.

"You can set your feet down. And we're not moving anymore. You're fine, see?"

She cautiously opened her eyes, looking around. She laughed nervously, stumbling off of the bike. I kicked the stand down and stabled the bike before getting to my feet. "We're pretty much hidden here so stay here while I go find my parents."

She nodded subtly, hiding herself in the shade against a tool shed.

I walked off around the house, making my way to the front door. Before I could even touch the door knob, the door swung open and I was engulfed in a set of loving arms.

"Ben! Oh, Ben, I knew it was you! I'm so glad you're home, honey…."

I cringed, bringing my arms around her as well. "Hi, Mom…"

"Don't 'Hi, Mom' me! You were gone and that's all you have to say?! Get inside!"

Dad walked around the corner, a dirty rag in his hand. "Did I hear a bike…? Ben?" Dad was in shock. He dropped the rag at his feet, rushing up to the two of us in the doorway. "Ben! They let you out?!"

Mom sniffed in, bringing her arms back to wipe her eyes. "I-I see they let you… let you keep the—your watch…"

I smiled. "No, not exactly...," I mumbled, rubbing my wrist.

"HEY! I SMELL FOOD!"

I grimaced. "Rika, you have to stop doing that!" I could see Rika in the house, sifting through the living room to find the food. "I told you to stay by the bike…"

Dad turned around. "Rika? Who's this?" he asked me, glancing back at me once before going over to Rika.

Mom led me inside, shutting the door.

"I'm Drikrgia. I helped Ben—"

I furiously mouthed the words, "Not about the escape!" as soon as my mother looked at Rika.

Rika got the message, and her eyes widened. "Uh… Helped Ben get back to… Earth. Right."

"So, Kevin and Gwen explained things to you after I left, I assume?"

Mom nodded, brushing her eyes again. "Yeah… They told us why you did it…"

"At least they understand my reasoning…," I sighed.

"Where's the food?" Rika asked my Dad.

I rolled my eyes. "Mom, we've got to keep her hidden. I don't have a place yet, but—"

"Don't say another word, Ben. We'll keep an eye on her," she smiled.

"Thanks Mom… Hey, she can get herself into trouble so make sure you keep a close eye on her. She can be pretty sneaky too."

Mom nodded.

"Sandra, I think the potatoes are done!" Dad shouted from the kitchen.

"Potatoes?" Rika asked.

I smiled. "I'll help out with whatever's left."

"No, no. Sit down. Nineteen years living here and you've never offered, yet you come back from jail and you're all help-y. Sit!" She shoved me off towards the couch, forcing me to sit down.

I'd moved out when I was nineteen, I had just enough money for a ride and first and last month's rent, as well as a steady job. However, I felt like I was starting over again. I didn't have a job, or a place to live, but I did have my ride. That's what mattered.

"You know, Earth food is DELICIOUS!"

I looked over and jumped, taking in a sharp breath. "Rika! You really have to stop doing that!" I sighed, trying to calm down. She either moved extremely fast or was extremely quiet. Most likely both.

She smiled. "After eating that jail food in a stick, this food is delicious."

"Mom's cooking is always good. One thing you should never eat is my Grandfather's food."

She laughed. "Max Tennyson?"

I nodded.

"She seems to know a lot about us. And you, Ben," Dad walked in, stuffing a potato chunk in his mouth.

"Ben was a hero on our planet. He never came to visit us, but we'd heard stories that traveled from planet to planet about the Great Ten. So I studied up on our hero in my spare time."

Dad sighed, sitting on the recliner opposite to us. "You seem pretty close."

Rika grumbled a few unrecognizable words.

Dad raised a brow.

"Don't ask," I forced a smile.

Dad forced one as well, scratching his neck.

"I see nervous itching runs in the family," Rika laughed.

"Look, Dad. I need to borrow some money to get a place. I have two hundred dollars in my wallet, but I need a deposit for the apartment."

"Why don't you two stay here?" Dad asked, but quickly backpedaled. "Err… Never mind. I'll talk to your mother and get the money problem straightened out."

Rika laughed. "Mr. Tennyson, you have a perverted mind just like your son."

Dad looked away. "…Sandra? Is the dinner done yet?!" he asked, rushing into the kitchen.

Rika continued to laugh. "You wouldn't believe what he was implying."

I sighed. "What my parents do behind closed doors is their own business," I grimaced.

"He meant us."

My head hit the back of the couch. "This is why I never bring girls to meet my parents."

"Sure, sure. That's why," she giggled.

I shoved Rika to the side a bit, but not enough to push her completely off the couch. "Shut up…"

"I could learn a lot more about you from your parents, Alien Boy. They seem to slip up a lot. Your mother looks like one of those humans that would show holograms of when you were a baby."

"Pictures? Please, don't jinx it, I'm hoping—praying that she won't."

"Ah-ha, a little embarrassing, eh?"

"Dinner's ready!" Mom called.

I closed my eyes. "I'm not hungry anymore…"


	11. Living Arrangements

**Hmm… I don't know what to do… I'm going to stick to third person so when Ben leaves I can stick with Rika so don't get too confused here.**

**Also, I've just since learned they're going to continue Alien Force, even after WoWp1&2. I may or may not incorporate his new aliens (once we find out what they are). It all depends on when the 3****rd**** season comes out. If I haven't finished the story by then, I will incorporate them. If I have, then I'll incorporate them into a new story.**

ooo

"Thanks for the money, mom…"

Sandra smiled, hugging Ben. "Don't worry about it, Ben. I'm just glad you're back… After I thought I'd never see you again…" She sniffed in, tears falling onto his shirt.

He gave a warm smile, gently prying her off of him. "I have to go, Mom. I'll be back later to get Rika."

"Don't go off and get yourself into trouble. I'll never forgive myself for letting you go if you do!"

Ben smiled, waving as he walked off.

"Phew, he's gone. I never thought he'd leave!" Rika sighed, looking around the house. "So what's here to do, eh?" she looked behind her, falling smoothly onto the couch.

"I feel sick," Carl groaned, clutching his stomach as he walked out of the room.

"Sick?" Rika sat up, looking concerned.

"I don't know exactly when Ben'll be back, but you're welcome to help me out," Sandra smiled, wiping the leftover tears from her eyes.

"Help? With what?"

Sandra brushed off her hands on her pants, looking around the room. "The house needs a little fixing up. Your father—Ben's father's fixing up the car, no matter how terribly he does it…" She'd never been used to talking about Carl in any other sense than 'Your father,' so talking to Rika about him was a big change.

Rika smiled. "I could help clean… I know a lot of about dead organisms."

Sandra's smile turned forced. _What, did she mean like dead people?_ "Err… You do mean dead dust mites, right?"

Rika laughed nervously. "Yeah, we'll go with that. _Santehniku nav iebraukts gimenes…_" _Guess Plumbers don't run in the family…_

Sandra gave a questionable smile to the alien language. "Now… I'll be right back."

Rika nodded, lying back on the couch once more. _I hope Ben comes back soon._

Sandra made her way to the kitchen, where her husband Carl was wiping his face of motor oil. "Oh! What happened?" she asked, concerned.

Carl laughed. "Little mishap. Nothing big."

"You lie almost as bad as your son. Go clean up." She shoved him off toward the hallway. "And don't touch anything until you get to the bathroom!" she shouted after him, shaking her head soon after. She reached down to open the cabinet under the kitchen sink, containing all of the cleaning supplies the family needed. After gathering the right tools for the job, she headed back toward Rika.

"All right, Rik…a…" The woman's jaw dropped, seeing the room.

"Oh! Back so soon?" Rika laughed. "The living room is clean. What else needs to be done?"

Sandra was stunned. How did the girl clean the room? More importantly, how did she clean a room that normally takes Sandra three hours to clean in less than a minute… with no cleaning products?!

Rika's smile dropped, seeing her stunned expression. "Uh… did… I do something wrong?"

Sandra soon smiled, rushing up to the girl. She dropped the products on the floor and rushed her up the stairs toward Ben's old room. "Here. Here. See what you can do about cleaning up Ben's old room."

Rika smiled. "Sure! You know, this is really fun."

"Oh good, I'm glad. It's not exactly one of my favorite things to do...," she mumbled.

Rika ran into what seemed like Ben's room, which almost seemed obvious from the clutter on the floor and scattered across the surfaces of desks and tables.

"There was a time when Ben kept his room clean. Somewhere between the start of high school and his interest in girls…" Sandra tapped her chin. "Well, anyway, have at it. I'll be downstairs washing dishes if you need me."

Rika nodded. "Okay." To Rika, this was an opportunity to get to know Ben better. As much stuff as he took with him when he moved out, there were still little odds and ends left behind. An old computer, old drawings from when he was younger, crumpled-up homework papers that missed the trashcan by his desk… The only thing that seemed to be missing were articles of clothing so commonly seen scattered around rooms.

Rika intertwined her fingers, stretching out her arms over her head. She pulled a leather tie off of her upper arm, pulling up her hair with it. She tied a knot to secure her silver hair, then took a good look around the room.

The first thing that caught her eye was the computer. It was strange, yet a piece of technology that Rika was familiar with back on her home planet. Though hers may have been more advanced, the similarities were probably close enough so she could work with it.

She pulled the desk chair over, rolling close to the desk. Shaking the mouse turned the computer on, revealing a picture Ben must've taken (or maybe even Gwen or Kevin) during a battle. With closer examination, it looked like a moth-like creature sliding down an ice slide. Now Rika thought it was for fun, and not during a battle.

Rika laughed, then began searching through the directories. _Documents, Program Files, Pictures…_ She clicked on the pictures file, as it was a file containing history of Ben and his friends.

Sumer Vacation was the name of the very first file in that folder, which seemed interesting enough. The first picture on that list was of Ben and Gwen when they were much younger. Eleven years ago at the very most. One thing that caught her eye was the absence of the Omnitrix. That set a timeline. "Even back then… Childish, but cute."

The next picture was of their grandfather's aptly named motor home—as listed on the name of the photo—The Rust Bucket I.

After a few uninteresting photos of the inside of the vehicle came a few uncommon photos of the Omnitrix in its base form—bulky, black and white, watch-like object stuck to his wrist like glue. You could tell the pictures were self-taken, as the camera was crooked and his arm was in an awkward position. They must've been taken just after he received the Omnitrix.

After those came a picture of Gwen in the night, a marker drawn all over her face. "So he was quite mischievous… Either that or he _really_ hated his cousin back then."

The next picture was of Gwen and Ben. They both looked upset about something, though Rika assumed it was because they were forced to have their picture taken _together_. The picture directly after that was of Ben pushing Gwen away from him only seconds later. Rika laughed at the immaturity.

There were hundreds of pictures from the vacation, one picture of Ben and Gwen smiling to end it all. It seemed like no matter how much the two got on each other's nerves, they'd grown closer over the trip.

She moved back and looked through the pictures in the main folder, a picture of Ben and a girl caught her eye. "Julie…" It was another self-taken picture of the two kissing. Rika growled, turning off the computer in a fit of jealousy. She stormed out of the chair, almost knocking it over, and rushed to the other side of the room.

"_Ta voib gorijo v peklu…_" _She can burn in hell…_

ooo **Back to Ben! **ooo

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN I CAN'T GET THE KEYS FOR ANOTHER WEEK?!"

This was the fifth place I've gone. Even my last place didn't have any openings, having rented out my old apartment to some girl only a day after Kevin told them.

It was annoying, really. All I asked for was a furnished apartment. I didn't care how many bedrooms, or if it even had a bathroom, just a damn place to live. Living with my parents isn't as fun as it looks. I can't go hero without freaking my Dad out, or leave whenever I want without them asking questions.

Then there's the Rika factor. I can just hear them now, "Keep your door open!" Oy. What do they think I'm doing, anyway?

No. Not with Rika. God, no…

Not now, at least. I'm in the middle of a crisis and all they can think about is my sex life with Rika… That's parents for you, though…

ooo

After another five complexes, I finally found one that suited my needs. Two bedrooms, one and a half bath, large, open, flat-like layout, a patio in the back with a great view, and it's furnished, all for a decent price.

On my way back to my parents, keys in-hand, I had time to think about what to do with Rika. The only thing I could think of to hide her in plain sight was to change her skin tone. Rika's done some crazy stuff before, but I don't know if she can pull that off.

It's not uncommon for humans to have deformities, and her ears wouldn't be too hard to hide anyway so they wouldn't be a problem. Her golden eyes can be fixed with contact lenses. I'm sure I can make her legal and get the correct documentation from Kevin if it comes down to it.

I carefully stepped off the bike, hanging up a new helmet on the handlebars. I assumed I was allowed to open the door without knocking, so I did so, walking into the house. "Mom? Dad? Rika?"

The door shut. "HI BEN! Oh! You're back, you're back, you're back!" Someone attacked me from behind, throwing their arms around me. Blue arms. Rika.

"Why do you smell all lemon-y?" I asked, disregarding her overbearing hug.

"Oh. I've been cleaning the house! Doesn't it look great?"

"You've been cleaning?!" I turned around, her arms releasing from me. "Did Mom make you do it? MOM!"

"Yes, hon, I'm here. What's wrong?" Mom walked out of the kitchen, drying her hands with a towel.

"Have you been making Rika clean the house?"

"She asked if there was anything to do and I offered her to help me! She agreed, and cleaned the entire thing on her own. She even said it was fun!" Mom spoke defensively.

Rika growled. "It was fun, Ben! Plus, you have no say over what I can and can't do! You don't own me, Ben Tennyson!"

"But I own you," Mom laughed.

"Do not."

"Do too! If not legally, then black mail ought to do it! Rika, I have the cutest little picture of Ben when he—"

I reached over, clasping my hand over my mother's mouth. "Okay! All right, fine."

Rika smiled. Mom did as well, so I removed my hand.

"Don't worry. I saw enough pictures I wanted to see for one day."

I sighed. "You already showed her?"

Mom shook her head. "I had nothing to do with this," she said, walking off back toward the kitchen.

Rika smiled. "Your computer."

"Damn it… Which ones did you see?"

"Oh… Summer vacation… Julie…," she choked on the girl's name.

I scratched my head.

"Yes, Ben, be nervous."

"Am I going to die?"

She laughed. "No, but she might."


	12. The Color of Your Skin

**I'm writing this on the way to Mississippi with a friend of mine (You can check my twitter to see!) So I'm sitting in the back of our convertible with my computer in my laptop, letting my girl be the DJ!**

**Oh yeah. I have a CG picture of Rika up on deviant art if you all want to see it.**

**. username ~LilahJae if the link doesn't work or doesn't show. It needs a little fixing here and there but it's a good start. She's wearing her home planet's battle gear (explained slightly in the author's comment on deviant art) as well as her casual clothing (shorts and top) Let me know what you think either with a comment on here or a comment on there!**

ooo

"Keys…"

"Don't tell me you lost the damn keys, Alien Boy."

I shook my head. "No, they're right here. I have to put them on the ring…"

Rika gasped. "Don't I get the spare? Isn't that how it works?"

I laughed. "Right. Where would you possibly go when I'm gone?" I pushed the door open, the smell of fresh paint and new leather swirling around us.

"I don't know! I might make friends!!!"

I laughed again. "Not with that skin color you're not. As long as you look the least bit otherworld-y you're not leaving this house without me."

"Oh, Ben Tennyson, I feel so safe around you. What would I ever do if you weren't here? I might just have to stay inside all the time…," she swooned sarcastically, falling onto my side, laughing.

"All right, all right. I understand that you can take care of yourself, but being out in a world full of irrational humans isn't all that safe. One look at you and the FBI will be on both our asses."

Rika groaned, running over to the new couch. It looked quite comfortable, covered in micro-suede with plush cushions. The welcoming feeling pulled you to it. However, I was more interested on what kind of bed I was going to be sleeping on. If it hurt my back, I might just have to invest in a new mattress _soon_, and that would dip into what little savings I have left.

"I have to go get a job as soon as possible."

"Aww, Ben. So you're just going to leave me here alone all day?"

"Well, I'll be here all night…"

Rika laughed. "Yeah, as if that's any consolation to you. The night time is just a time to sleep, right?" she grumbled.

"Look, I don't know where your mind is, but if you're going to argue with me about how stupid, ignorant, and blind I am, go buy a cat and take it out on him." I opened the fridge, finding a note inside. "Fill me!" it said.

I set the note on the counter and shut the fridge.

"A cat? Is that like a _llastoj_?"

"Which is…," I dragged out, opening each cabinet individually.

"Big ears, big eyes, makes a screeching sound no being should ever want to hear…"

I smiled. "Well, you got the first half right. But a cat's meow can be quite comforting to some people. I don't know if you could compare it to… whatever that thing is you just said."

"Oh… Are they furry?"

I nodded, opening the dishwasher. I soon closed it, running it on a full cycle to test it out.

Rika laid back on the couch, her hands behind her head. "Hmm…"

I turned the kitchen light on, then off. Dining room light on, then off. I was testing everything in the apartment. I call it OCD, a bit of a tick of mine. Everything was in working order. "All right, good."

"What's up, Alien Boy?"

"Everything's working. How's the couch?" I asked.

Rika sat up. "Come see for yourself."

I sat down next to Rika, leaning my back against the couch. "Nice…"

"Homes on Cryogaus are similar to places here… Except we have access to our roofs. It's almost a tradition that every time the second moon appears, we all go and sit on our rooftops and watch until the sun rises."

I looked over toward her. "We as in you and your brothers?"

"The entire planet."

I blinked. "Seems like a pretty forceful tradition…"

"My mother started it, and it caught on. Everyone has since followed it," she shrugged.

I smiled.

Rika sat up. "So… what is there to do on this hum-drum planet?" she asked curiously, her voice picking up slightly in pitch.

"It's too late to go anywhere right now, but tomorrow, I have a few things I need to do myself," I sighed, standing up. I stretched out each of my limbs one by one.

Rika groaned. "Damn… Well, what are we doing tomorrow?"

"We? No, I meant me. You have to stay here until I can figure out how to hide you in plain sight."

She groaned again.

"I'm sorry, Rika, but that's how it has to be," I told her, walking off to what looked like the master bedroom. Surprisingly, Rika didn't follow.

I left the door cracked open only so slightly before heading into the bathroom. One toilet, one shower-tub, one sink and vanity. Perfect. I opened the empty medicine cabinet, wishing I had everything I needed with me.

My hand was drawn to my wallet. Mom had insisted on lending me extra money for necessities, as well as the apartment itself. I would go shopping tomorrow… after I asked Kevin about Rika's little problem.

I turned around, flipping the bathroom light off as I left. I looked toward the bed, then out of the window. The sun was barely just setting, but I was tired. No. Exhausted. The upcoming weeks were going to be tough. I would have to be on high alert, wondering if someone's tracking me, or if someone's going to try and over-power me and take me back to jail.

I sighed, falling back onto the bed. "Home…"


	13. Mask

**All right. So there's a new picture on my deviantart with Rika AND Ben. I do warn you, however. Half of the artist's comment shouldn't be read until after this chapter (Or the next, I'm not sure) You'll know when the action depicted happens.**

ooo

The darkness in the room was surprising. I was used to the faint yet annoying glow of a barrier, and the blinking lights of cameras. The darkness was calming. I rolled out of bed, rubbing my eyes before standing. I'd fallen asleep without a change of clothes, as that wasn't an option.

A faint green glow came from my pocket, and the closer the Omnitrix got to it, the more power I felt surge through it. That only happened when I was in danger… I never liked that feeling. I pulled Rika's badge out of my pocket, using it as a dim flashlight to guide myself around the room to the bathroom.

My eyes burned from the bright lights once they were on, though it would only be a moment before I could see again. I pressed my palms against the mock marble counter, my head hanging low toward the sink. I quickly turned on the water, twisting the lever to the hot setting.

"…Ben? Why are you awake…?" Rika walked in, a bitten apple in her hand.

"Why are you?" I asked groggily.

Rika hummed, taking another bite. "I'm finishing the fruit in the bowl they left us. After that first one, I couldn't stop. The fruit here is so much better than the stuff we've got."

"Have you slept… at all?" I asked, rubbing my eyes.

Rika shook her head. "It's too early to sleep."

"What do you think you're supposed to do when the sun goes down?!"

She looked down at the fruit, then back at me. "Want some?" she asked quietly, laughing a bit.

"Can I wake up, please?" I asked, watching the sink's water level rise quickly.

Rika nodded. "I'm bored, though, so hurry up. There's not much to do in such an empty house." She turned around and left the room, taking another bite of her apple.

I sighed, putting my hands under the running water. It was calming, though I was pretty calm as it was. Without the guards breathing down my neck, I was almost stress-free.

I laughed at the reflection in the mirror. My hair was a mess and my face had a few indentations from the wrinkled fabrics I was lying on. I ran my fingers through my hair a few times and splashed some water on my face. The rough feeling on my cheeks reminded me that I needed to buy shaving supplies before too long.

I ignored the minor beard growing on my face and turned the light out, searching for Rika. The kitchen light was on, but the rest of the house was dark and quiet. "Rika? Where are you?"

"Down here!" She reached up a blue hand, waving from behind the kitchen counter.

I walked into the kitchen, looking down toward Rika. "What are you doing down there?"

"Grapes. Want one?" She pulled one off the stem, holding it up for me.

Even though I wasn't hungry, I took it anyway. I needed to eat, having not eaten anything the day before. I was too preoccupied with what needed to be done, rather than eating or much of anything else.

"I have to leave soon," I told her, tossing the small grape into my mouth.

"Where are you going? The sun's barely out yet."

Kevin was either awake by now, or still awake from the night before. If he was still awake, chances are he was working on his car. If he'd just woken up, then only God knows what he's doing. One way or another, I'd find him.

"I have to ask Kevin a favor. I also have to go run a few errands." I held out my hand for another grape. They were actually quite good…

She handed me another. "Can I come?"

I shook my head. "It all depends."

Rika set the empty bowl aside before standing up, then set it back on the composite counter. "I don't like being alone…," she mumbled quietly. "You're coming back soon, right?"

I nodded. "I'll be back after I go see Kevin. If not, It'll only be an hour or so to get whatever else I need." I yawned. "Any more questions or can I go?"

"You can go," she smiled, walking into the living room.

She seemed so calm compared to normal. No arguments… I wasn't used to that.

"…Bye, Rika…" I grabbed the keys off the counter, reaching for the door.

"Bye, Ben!"

I almost felt like I was missing something once I'd left. She was so sedate, I almost felt like I wasn't supposed to leave until I caused an argument. It may stress me out or piss me off, but she's just not Rika unless she argues about something.

Hm.

My bike was still parked neatly in front of the apartment, my helmet still sitting on the porch, surprisingly. I didn't expect it to be there after the night (thinking someone may have stolen it) but I guess I got lucky there.

I pulled the full-face helmet off of the drink table on the porch and walked down the steps to my bike. I was thankful for having a first-floor apartment. All those stairs would've bugged me half way to hell.

I jammed the key into the ignition before pulling the helmet on, shutting the shield over my eyes. In only a moment, after letting the bike warm up, I was gone. "Kevin, you better be awake or I'm breaking into your car and taking what I need."

That… he would kill me for.

Passing the AT&T store, which was closed, I was reminded of the cell phone I desperately needed. "Damn," I grumbled, speeding up. "Now… Let's hope I remember how to get to Kevin's place. Otherwise, I'll have to wake Gwen up, and she won't be too happy about that."

I zoned out the rest of the trip over. I didn't want to bring back old memories, nor did I want to worry too much about the future. However, it wasn't too hard to spot Kevin's house once I was in the neighborhood. It was the only one with the garage door open, a green and black car pulled in, and a strange young man lying under the car.

I pulled up in the driveway, kicking the stand down. Still no reaction from Kevin. "Hey! You're not dead, are you?"

"Go away, Ben."

"I need to ask you a favor," I told him, dismounting the bike.

He held the front bumper of his car, rolling out from under to look at me. He soon pushed himself back under the car, ignoring my request.

"Look, it's about Rika." I took off my helmet, hanging it on the handle bars before approaching the car.

"If she punches me again, you're both dead, got it?"

I laughed. "Why?"

"…Cause that actually hurt…"

I laughed even harder. "She's stronger than she looks. I've learned that the hard way."

"Yeah. Now, go away. I'm busy."

I looked at the car, then the lack of tools surrounding him. "With what?! You aren't even fixing the car."

He rolled out from under the car, getting to his feet. "Am too."

I also noted the lack of grease on his shirt.

"All right, fine, so I was just making sure everything worked. Get over it." He brushed his hands together, taking a step forward. Unfortunately he missed the ground and stepped down on the skateboard he was using to roll under the car, tripping.

I couldn't stop laughing now. This was payback for all the cracks he'd taken at me over the years. Not all of the payback, but enough for the moment.

When Kevin was back on his feet, I could see the murder in his eyes and I quickly cut the laughing. "Okay, look. Just give me what I came here for and I'm gone."

"What do you want, Tennyson?" He rested his hand on his car, threatening to use a solid-steel hand to punch me out if need be.

I swallowed the lump in my throat. "I want that souvenir you kept from the DNAlien attack."

"The ID mask?" he laughed at me.

"I'm not kidding."

Kevin's expression fell flat.

"You owe me, Kevin. I never told Gwen about that little thing on Valentine's day where you were so nervous you absorbed all the chocolate you were trying to give her!"

"Hey, you promised you would never speak of that incident again!" He poked a finger at my chest.

I smiled. "Give me the mask and I won't."

He growled quietly to himself. "Fine." Walking around the car, he popped the trunk open and pulled out a strange mask. "Here." He tossed it to me. I caught it at the last second, fumbling around before I steadied it in my hands.

"Thanks."

"Now stop bothering me." He pushed his way past me back toward the skateboard, readjusting it under the car. Back to ignoring me. Just how it should be.

I rolled my eyes, making my way back to the bike. I stuffed the mask in a saddle bag and quickly left. Kevin's house always had a sense of danger around it, and it wasn't the kind of danger I liked.

I shuddered, speeding off down the road. I quietly wondered what Rika would look like with the mask. If it made the DNAliens look like their human selves, what would Rika look like? Would it even change her, since she wasn't human to begin with?

I sighed. The mask was my last resort. I'd gone through every other option. Makeup would rub off and be very expensive to cover all visible skin. Hair dye is only temporary. Contact lenses would be a bitch to put in every day and Rika probably wouldn't agree to any of it!

The mask was simple. The only drawback would be storms. Lightning disrupts the mask's function. Otherwise, she'll look completely human, if it works.

ooo

"What the hell are you doing?"

"Looking at the stars."

I looked up toward the ceiling. "That's the ceiling."

"Come here!" She grabbed my hand, pulling me down to the floor. "Look!"

I raised a brow questionably, laying down next to Rika on the carpet. I glanced at her before looking at the ceiling. "Oh wow. You're right!" I could see the stars and several other galaxies. The question was, how?

"I got bored so I projected the stars I could see from my home planet onto your ceiling."

Shooting star. "Make a wish."

"Why?"

"It's a tradition here. You see a shooting star, you make a wish. Just don't tell anyone or it won't come true."

She smiled, looking back up. "I hope my wish comes true."

Now I was curious. "What was it?"

"You just told me not to tell you!"

I sighed. "Fine. Just tell me when it comes true."

She laughed. "Okay."

"Hey, I got a surprise for you." I sat up, getting to my feet.

"Oohhh! What is it!?" She grabbed my arm, using it as support to stand up. She clung to my arm as I walked toward the counter.

"It's a miracle," I grumbled. "Here, watch." I picked up the mask, handing it to Rika. "Put it on."

She looked at the inside of the mask. "It looks weird."

"Just do it. Trust me."

She furrowed her brow, looking at the mask before placing it over her face. I felt like I was watching The Mask. So strange…

Preoccupied with the stars glowing from the ceiling, I wasn't exactly focused on Rika, but once my eyes caught her new appearance, I soon regretted it. If I thought she looked good before…

"Rika…?"

"Oh, stop drooling," she growled. "If I knew this would catch your attention before I should've asked you to get this sooner."

I laughed nervously. "Yeah… Well…" I forced myself to look away. This was Rika I was looking at. And Rika gets on my nerves. Right. That's what I would make myself believe.

Golden blond hair, crystal blue eyes, light pale skin… I sighed. "Rika, we have to go shopping."

"For what?" she asked, walking into the kitchen.

"Clothes. That, uh… outfit is uh… Too revealing…?"

"Hey, if it hasn't persuaded you, it isn't revealing enough," she laughed.

I sighed again. "The mall should be open by now. We can head out soon."

Rika grumbled to herself, neck-deep in the fridge. "Oh, sorry. Were you saying something?" she asked, looking out of the fridge.

I laughed nervously. "C-can we go?"

"As long as I get out of the house!" she smiled, shutting the fridge.

It was probably just the fact that she looked human, but I was strangely… attracted to her… I was prior to this, when we were back in the prison, but her annoying personality tore those notions down. This almost changed my view on her.

Almost…

ooo

**Okay, people you can read the rest of the comment now! Though I just explained it all so yeah :]**


	14. Body

**Hey guys! So I forgot to mention someone's help in the last chapter. MegaPea helped me out with the ID mask idea. I've also gone and changed my penname, so watch out. It was MyLoyalGuardian. Now it's Livewire Lilah.**

**THANKS MEGAPEA!**

ooo

"Ben…"

"Huh."

"Ben?"

"Whaa…"

"BEN!"

"What?!"

"You're too quiet for comfort."

"I'm trying not to kill anyone," I growled.

Rika raised a brow. "Why?"

"They're all staring at you."

"Are not!"

"Remember that guy who said you dropped that shirt?"

"…Yeah…"

"He lied."

Rika grumbled. "I looked everywhere for that shirt! You should've told me he just wanted to look at my ass."

"Why, so you could bend over just a little further?"

"Are you jealous, Mr. Tennyson?" she laughed.

"N-no," I stuttered, staring down another impolite man. Damn it, can't they just leave her alone? We're here to buy her new clothes anyway.

"Hey, look!" Rika stopped us, pulling me into another store. "This shirt would look really good on you," she pulled a pastel green, button-up, collared shirt off a rack, holding it up to me. "_Really_ good…"

I laughed. "I don't need any clothes. This trip is because you can't walk around wearing that. All the guys in this mall have proved that ten times over."

Rika looked at me. "Seems like the only one not looking is you," she grumbled.

"I don't get your obsession with me. At first you thought I was a stuck-up jerk. Then I was addicting. Then I was just someone to argue with."

She smiled. "You're not the only one whose personality changes from time to time."

"More like every ten seconds."

"Yours doesn't change that much," she laughed.

"I meant yours."

Rika clutched the green shirt in her arms, pulling a pair of black jeans off the rack next to it. She held up those to my waistline as well. She pulled those into her arms and continued to rummage the store.

"Ooh, look! Isn't this cute?" she asked me, holding up a black shirt with neon green stripes on the short sleeves and two just below the chest.

The whole green and black irony was starting to annoy me.

"It sure suits you," I smiled. "And the whole plumber's colors outlook."

"What? Kevin's car is green and black too. It's not like it's new to you guys. I thought it was kind of like hiding in plain sight. A message that says 'Look I'm a plumber but no one but us knows,' kind of thing!"

I rolled my eyes. "Actually it was all just coincidence. Just happened that way."

Rika put the shirt in the pile as well. "Hmm…" She searched through at least one hundred racks in the large store, undecided between denim shorts and denim pants. "Which one. This or this?" she asked me.

I faked a cough. "Err… Don't ask me. Just try them both on."

Rika dragged me off to the dressing rooms with her free hand, handing me the green shirt and black jeans before opening the door. "You should try them on too." By the look in her eye, I could see she was up to no good.

I sighed. "Fine."

She stepped into the room, shutting the door behind her.

I looked at the clothes in my hands, then toward the free dressing room next to Rika's. "Might as well," I sighed, stepping into it. I set the shirt and pants on the seat in the room, pulling my black shirt off over my head.

Looking into the mirror, I saw a strange marking that crawled across my shoulder, one I hadn't remembered receiving. It seemed almost like a tattoo, a permanent marking. The question was, how and when did I receive it? The jail? Before being transferred to my cell, I was tranquilized for transport. They must've done it then…

I rubbed my inked shoulder, sighing a bit. I grabbed the light green shirt and threaded my arms through the holes. Just as I was about to button it up, Rika knocked on the door.

"Ben? Come out here."

I unlocked the door and pulled it open, finding Rika wearing the new clothes she'd picked out on the other side.

"Hi, Be—Ben…" She stopped speaking, a lazy smile on her face. "Well you could've buttoned the shirt first, but oh well," she giggled, placing a hand on my chest. She trailed her finger down to my abs before I stopped her.

"Rika, stop. Please."

She giggled again. "I'm sorry, I just can't help myself."

"I don't know exactly what you're thinking, but I don't like you like that," I half lied.

Her smile grew. "Who cares, as long as I get to look at you," she giggled once more.

I laughed.

"Well, what do you think?" she forced herself to take a step back, spinning around once in her new outfit. She'd chosen the denim shorts.

"I'm not good at commenting people."

"Think of it this way. If I was your girlfriend, you'd have to compliment me or I'd get mad."

I scratched at my scalp, looking away from her. "Well, uh… It looks… nice?"

Her smile disappeared. "Yeah, thanks," she said sarcastically.

I reached down to button up the shirt but Rika stopped me.

"Not yet, damn it," she demanded.

I turned around, grabbing the doorknob. "Bye, Rika…" I closed the door and locked it. I continued to button up the shirt, looking at the finished product in the mirror. It fit me nicely, though I wasn't so fond of the persistent 'black and green' concept. Green had always been my favorite color but now it'd just become too much.

I ignored my opinion on the whole thing and grabbed the pants, trying those on as well. The outfit seemed to work, as much as it didn't matter. For all I care I could grab a random set of shirt and pants and be done with it.

I changed back into my old black shirt and blue jeans and stepped out of the dressing room to find Rika waiting for me, new clothes in-hand. She smiled, though it seemed a little absent. "Damn… I was hoping for that other shirt…" She stood up slowly, handing me the shirt and shorts. "Now what?"

"We pay for them and leave. We've got a bit of shopping left to do." I headed off toward the cash register, Rika quickly rushing off in front of me. She turned around, walking backwards to face me, now.

Rika smiled. "Good. I'm getting tired of this place. The one person I want watching me doesn't even care," she laughed.

"If you keep up that walk of yours, I just might," I grumbled to myself.

"Hmm?"

"Nothing…"

"Sure, sure." She turned back around racing forward now.


	15. Change

**So I've had a really sad idea. Kinda morbid. Kinda ehh. I have to incorporate it, though… Not this chapter. Maybe not the next. I don't know.**

ooo

Rika giggled. "Home! Oh good. Home… I'll be right back! I'm going to change."

I laughed at the complete randomness of her statement, watching her run off. I looked at the clothes in my hand and sighed. She'd make me wear them if I didn't put them on now, so I might as well. I stepped off to my bedroom, setting the bag on my bed. I stood opposite of the clothes, watching them closely.

They were foreign. New. They were change. I never liked change…

I didn't have a choice, though, so I changed into the pants first. I sat down on the bed, looking at my legs. "Eughh…"

Then, I pulled off my old shirt, tossing it aside. So many memories in that old shit. I'd grown attached to it like the black and white shirt I wore that entire summer vacation. Gwen burned that shirt, though, so I was forced to move on. But this was another change. I'd have to get used to it, though. I can't wear the same clothes for the rest of my life. Not only is it nowhere near hygienic, but they're bound to fall apart at the seams at some point.

I grabbed the green shirt sitting next to me, threading my arms through the holes. The last time I remember wearing any sort of button-up, or even collared shirt, was to a wedding when I was ten. I cringed at the memories of stuffy tuxes and crunchy hair gel, and Gwen in a dress…

"Ew. Ew. Ew. Ew. These clothes are too stifling!" I could hear Rika complaining from down the hall.

"Get used to it, Rika! There's no chance in hell I'm letting you wear your other outfit again."

She sighed, walking into my room. "Why? Because you can't help yourself, or because no one else can?"

"Both— Er… The second one…?"

She laughed, tugging at her shirt. "It sticks to my skin…"

I began buttoning my green shirt. "That's the style here, though."

Rika turned around, poking at her shorts. "They're weird… Earth people are weird…"

"If you wanna see weird, I'll take you to get some chili fries. You can never get that craving out of your system, trust me," I laughed.

"No thanks. I get enough weirdness at home from you, I don't need it from the rest of the humans too," she sighed, turning around.

I smiled, straightening the collar. However, the collar was quite short and didn't want to lie down, so I left it to do what it wished.

"So, what else are we doing today, Alien Boy?"

"Well… First, I need to figure out what all we need to buy. This place doesn't have a TV, so we should probably get a set. Then we need food…"

"Fruit too!"

I smiled. "And bathroom necessities… What else?"

"Uhm…"

I stood up, walking off to the living room. The best way to figure out what we needed was to go around, sitting in various places and assessing what was missing.

Rika followed me silently, chewing on her thumbnail.

I sat down on the couch, looking at everything in my view. TV came to my mind first. A small plant might lighten the room, but it doesn't matter. "Hm."

Rika leaned against the wall, watching my every move.

I walked over to the kitchen, resting my palms on the counter. Another plant in here would be nice, but nothing else seemed to be missing.

"Anything interesting, Alien Boy?"

I shook my head. "Not really…"

"Hmm…"

I walked over to the strange desk attached to the wall in the living room, sitting down in the strangely plush, small chair they provided. "So we need a TV…"

"Mhmm."

"And a few plants, maybe?"

Rika nodded, walking over to the part of the wall opposite of the desk, leaning against that now.

I rested one arm on the desk, the other in my lap. "Maybe a cheap yet functional computer…"

She nodded again. "Hey, Ben. Question…"

I looked up, watching her expression changed from pleased to devious. "Oh no." I blinked.

Her smile grew. "So Ben… Tell me something…" She walked forward, resting the palms of her hands on the desk.

"Should I be afraid…?"

"Tell me that that kiss in the jail meant nothing."

I laughed. "Is that all?"

"Look into my eyes and lie. Tell me what you're trying to make yourself believe."

…

"What's your point, Rika?" I asked her, trying to avoid my nervous tick, which Rika already knows.

"My point is, you're lying to yourself. You can't help yourself."

I raised a brow.

"Ben, you dolt! I'm trying to prove a point and your stupidity is wrecking it!" she growled, pinning my right arm down on the desk. Trying to escape whatever it was she was doing, I lifted my left arm and tried to stand, but she had me almost immobilized. Leaving the desk meant a broken arm.

Before I could try any other escape, Rika kissed me. When she pulled back, she folded her arms across her chest, looking at me with a satisfactory smile.

"…Point proven." I blinked a few times, hoping to regain focus. I ran my fingers through my hair once, trying to figure it all out.

Rika laughed. "I win," she smirked, walking off to the front door.

I let out a short breath, replaying the situation in my head.

She won. I laughed in disbelief. There was no way she could've lost.

ooo

**Sorry it's short. I'm drawing a little something for everyone anyway. And a cheesy little drawing of Ben's tattoo is up on my Deviantart.**


	16. Surprise!

**I'm asking everyone that reads my story to review. I'd like to know what you think (Though I already know what **_**you**_** think, MegaPea!) **

**I'm having a hard time figuring out if things need to be changed and I'd really like to hear it from you.**

**I don't like begging but if I have to I'll resort to it. Or play mind games like Rika.**

**So yeah. Review please!**

ooo

"Fries, fries, chili fries. Fries."

I looked at Rika. "Are you high?"

"Fries, fries, chili fries. Fries," she continued to sing.

I laughed. "Two please."

The man behind the counter scratched his extending stomach, pressing a few buttons. "Four twenty-eight, kid," he told me in a greasy voice.

I cringed, fishing out the money. I may have been gross at some point, but he was absolutely repulsive. "Here," I grimaced, handing him what was due.

He pushed two full, sloppy trays across the counter toward me. Rika stole them before I could even reach out for them.

"Mine, mine, mine, mine, mine!" Rika ran away, rushing out of the door.

I laughed. "Rika, I'm hungry. Get back here!"

"No! They're mine!" I could hear just before the door shut.

I pushed it open, finding Rika sitting on the curb, stuffing the chili-covered fries into her mouth.

"…Can I have some?"

She looked over her shoulder, putting another fry into her mouth. "…No," she refused in a childish tone.

I sat down next to her on the side walk. "Don't you think eight trays are enough? Can't I have one?"

She looked at the trays, then at me with big eyes. "…One. Fine." She handed me _one_ fry.

"I meant one tray!" I objected, taking the fry.

"Oh. No! It's mine!"

I sighed. "Fine…"

ooo

"So we got a TV. So we got some plants. And we went to the grocers. Now what, Alien Boy?" Rika asked.

I smiled. "I have a present for you."

ooo

"Hey, stay here, all right? You can look at the toys and collars and things. I'll be right back."

Rika smiled, quickly turning to the freestanding shelving unit.

I watched her closely before running off to find someone that worked there. "Uhm. Excuse me. Can you help me with adoptions?"

The lady smiled. "Oh of course! The adoption fees are seventy-five dollars and you'll need proof of identification."

I nodded. "I've got that, don't worry." I sighed, relieved I could truthfully say I had identification.

Her smile grew. "So which were you thinking to adopt today?" She led me off in the direction of the kennels.

"A cat."

She laughed. "How sweet. You know, we don't get many single guys coming in to adopt cats. They're more into the puppies."

I shrugged. "It's for my… girlfriend," I cringed. That wasn't exactly the truth, it was just easier to say girlfriend than explain the entire situation.

"Oh, how sweet! Is it an anniversary gift?"

"Housewarming. She's always loved cats." Sometimes, I hate lying. Truth is, I don't know if Rika has ever seen a cat or knows what it is. Though, when we were talking about a cat before, it just seemed like a good idea. When my dog passed away, I always felt like I was missing something. Now maybe the kitten can keep us both company…

The lady reached out and unlocked the door, leading me into the windowed room.

"Could you wait here a moment?" I asked. "I'll go get Rika."

She nodded, holding the door open for me while I left.

"Rika!" I called out, looking through the aisles until I found her. "Rika, follow me," I told her, grasping her hand to pull her back to the kennels.

"Ben? What's gotten into you?"

"It's a surprise. Look!" I pointed to the kennel window where the lady inside was letting the kittens and cats out of their cages. They were already running from their barred prisons to the cat poles beyond. I smiled, knowing how it felt to be locked up. I rubbed my inked shoulder with my free hand, sighing quietly.

"They're cute, aren't they?" Rika smiled, leaning her head to the side as she watched them through the window.

"Which one's the cutest?" I asked, feeling strange using that word. _Cutest_. Guys just don't say that.

She slowly walked up to the window, looking at the kittens. One of them pawed at Rika through the window, its chocolate eyes watching her gracefully. Rika pressed her hand to the glass, as if to match the kitten's paw.

"This one's so sweet," she smiled.

The lady behind the glass looked at me, then gestured towards the one with vanilla-colored fur with a large chocolate blotch on its head, the one Rika was watching. I nodded back, and she scooped up the small kitten.

"Aww…," Rika whined. "You think someone's taking him home?"

I walked up to her, putting my arm over her shoulder. "Yup."

She watched the small cat as the lady locked up the others, the strange, almost Neapolitan kitten sprawled over the brunet's shoulder.

Rika looked at the cat for a moment, then back at me. "Are you crazy?" she asked me quietly.

I smiled. "Just might be."

She sniffed in. "Aww, Ben!" she squealed, throwing her arms around me. "When you were talking about a cat, I thought you were kidding!"

I laughed. "I was, but the idea grew on me."

She squeezed me tighter. "Thank you, thank you! He's so cute!"

The lady walked out with the kitten on her shoulder. "Come on. We'll go get the paperwork filled out for this little guy." She handed off the cat to Rika, who quickly traded me for the cat.

I laughed.

"Any ideas on a name?" she asked.

I looked at Rika, who shrugged. "No, not really," I laughed nervously.

"Well, sometimes it just takes time. Gotta get used to his personality, you know?" the woman smiled.

Rika giggled. "Stop! That tickles!"

I smiled.

She walked around a counter, stepping over several other crates full of cats, none of which caught Rika's attention. "Uhm… ID, please?"

I blinked. "Oh. Here," I pulled my walled out, handing her my license.

"Fill these out while I get a copy of your license for the file."

I nodded, taking a clipboard while she left.

"Isn't he cute, Ben?" Rika asked, holding the cat out at arms' length. The cat had some affinity for her hair, thinking it must've been a toy.

"Kinda playful, don't you think?"

She nodded.

"All right… Name: Ben Tennyson…" The form was rather easy… until I read something of a survey. "Who's living there… Rika, do you even have a last name?"

Rika smiled, scratching the kitten's head. "Uh… what?"

"Do you have a last name? Surname. Anything?"

I could tell from there that she was too preoccupied with the kitten. "Just… put something down…"

I laughed. "Lie number one." I wrote down the first last name that came to mind. I tried to keep my focus off my eye, hoping that damn twitch wouldn't _ever_ come back. "Uhm… How often will you be out of the home?" I blinked. That was an almost undeterminable variable. How often I would be gone depends on if I get caught…

I wrote some typical job hours down for myself, but mentioned that Rika would be there while I was gone.

"Any prior convictions?" My heart stopped. Why would they need to know that?!

_Twitch_.

_DAMN IT._

I nervously checked the 'no' option and ignored the following questions applying to that one.

_Donate a dollar to save homeless pets_ was the next question. "Yeah, sure, why not?!" I said quickly, checking the box. I felt bad enough for lying about what I had to, at least this would save me some guilt.

The lady came back. "All right. All done?"

I quickly handed her the clipboard, the tainted paper out of my hand. "Yep."

She smiled. "All right. I'm sorry to say, but your little guy has to go out in a carrier… Do you have one Mr. … Tennyson?"

I shook my head.

Reaching under the counter, she pulled out a cardboard carrier.

"Hey Ben," Rika whispered. "You can't carry that thing on your bike."

I laughed. "Don't worry, I have the perfect idea."

Rika smiled, handing over the kitten. "Good, cause I don't want the little guy getting hurt."

"He won't."

"All right. And the adoption fee?" the woman asked, handing the shut carrier to Rika.

I pulled my wallet out again, fishing out a one hundred dollar bill. I picked my ID up off the counter and put it back in its place.

"Here you go!" She handed me my change. "Eighteen dollars and thirty-seven cents is your change. Eighty, sixty-three for the cat, and a dollar for the humane society."

I nodded, taking the money.

"You guys should get him a collar once he's big enough, and tags so if he gets lost…"

I laughed. "Don't worry. I have a team of ten willing to look for him if he gets lost." I don't think we have to worry about _anything_.

"Ooh! Determined! All right, you guys have a great day!"

I waved, nudging Rika toward the front door.

"So what's your brilliant idea, Alien Boy?"

Once we were at the bike, I pulled out Rika's jacket. "Zip him up in here."

Rika laughed. "You're kidding right?"

"Well don't ask me! Kevin wouldn't pick us up over a cat. Trust me."

Rika sighed. "You're insane, you know that?"

"Sadly…"


	17. Naming the Little Monster

**Grrr… No reviews…**

**Anyone? Please?**

**-.- This is begging, people.**

ooo

"He's shaking!"

"He's fine!"

"Ben Tennyson, the poor guy just spent ten minutes zipped up in my jacket on a _motorcycle!_ If he's anything like me, he's not fine!"

I looked at where the zipper rested on her jacket, realizing how long the little guy spent near her chest. "If he's really a guy, then he's fine, _trust me_."

Rika sighed. "If I know you, Ben, you've already bought the food for him."

I smiled real big, setting my keys and jacket on the kitchen island. "Yep. Look under the sink. He's still young, so give him some of the wet food."

She looked at me. "Do I look like someone that knows how to feed a cat?"

"Currently? Yes."

She pried the mask off her face, then raised a brow.

"Okay, now? No."

Rika reluctantly placed the mask back on, setting the frail kitten on the counter. Slipping a bit as he walked with all claws out, the little guy turned towards me, watching me with his chocolate eyes.

"What's your name…?" I asked quietly. I assumed it was Rika's job to figure that out.

"I haven't thought of anything yet. You?"

"It's your cat, not mine."

"You paid for him, Alien Boy, and he's living in your house. He's your cat."

I cringed. "Okay, fine, but he was your gift."

Rika sighed. "Then he's _our_ cat, so there's no argument."

"Fine, but you're still feeding him."

Rika pulled a can out from under the sink, peeling the lid back. She set it in front of the cat, dragging her hand from his head to his tail. "There."

The cat sniffed the food, then looked back up toward me. Did he know something? I rubbed my left wrist, looking around the house. The cat hissed when my hand reached the watch, backing away from me.

Rika laughed. "Guess he doesn't like you, Alien Boy."

"No, it's not me he doesn't like." I hovered the watch near the cat's face, and his fur began to raise, a low growl growing in the tiny kitten's chest.

"Oh, wow," Rika laughed.

"Pets just know… My dog had the same problem, too."

Rika sighed, covering the cat food with the reusable lib before placing it in the fridge. "Well, what about naming him, Alien Boy?"

I shrugged. "I'm not good with names."

"Only names I can think of are from my home planet, and they aren't exactly _universal_." Rika sighed

I looked at the blue skinned girl. "I dunno. I've always had trouble with names." I picked the ID mask up off the counter, handing it back to her. The cat watched my every movement, still pensive about the watch.

Rika groaned, reluctantly placing the mask back on. "Well I can't very well go around calling him 'Hey kitty kitty.' That's cruel."

I nodded. "Here, let's just watch him for a little while. Turn the TV on." I picked up the kitten, his claws instantly gripping onto my skin. I winced, rushing to the living room. Rika already had the TV on, blasting in on some random news channel. "Turn it off!" I shouted.

Rika rolled her eyes, turning it off. "You are such a wimp."

I set the cat down on the floor, rubbing my ears. "Ow?"

She shook her head, laughing. "I'm hungry." She skipped off toward the kitchen, opening the fridge. We didn't have much in the way of food, considering I could only get what my saddlebags could carry. But I got my favorites, food I'd missed while incarcerated, and that was all that mattered.

Rika grabbed a clear jar filled with green liquid and I instantly knew what she was after. Pickles.

I laughed loudly, a teenage memory resurfacing.

"What are these?"

"Pickles," I chuckled.

She looked at them sideways, then set the jar down to twist off the lid. Once it was open, she trotted back to the living room, sitting opposite me with the kitten in the middle. "What do they taste like?" she asked, dangling a pickle sphere above the jar.

I laughed. "I can't explain it."

She furrowed her brow, taking a bite. "EW! _Ang akin panginoon na nakalinis!!! _I'm not sure if I should kill you or smack you for letting me eat that!"

I laughed even harder. "Here, give it to me."

She was all too eager to hand me the tart treat.

I smiled, taking a bite. I watched Rika's face grow from disgusted to both disgusted and confused. "How do you even stomach those?"

"They're delicious! Come on, wimp," I laughed.

She growled. "Don't tell me you drink this green juice too."

I pressed my lips together, thinking back. "Well…"

"Ew! You are so gross!"

I smiled. "It was only once."

Rika shook her head, picking the jar up. "Do it, I dare you," she laughed.

I cringed, eating the last of the pickle she'd given me. "Really?"

She nodded.

I took the jar, staring at my reflection in the green liquid. There was an argument going through my mind similar to one you might have in a life-or-death situation. I chose death. "Well, once more won't kill me," I shrugged. I grasped both sides of the jar and put it to my lips, only taking a sip of the vinegar concoction.

_Huh. It's not half bad._ I don't remember much during Big Chill's little… pregnancy incident, but I know for a fact now that pickle juice isn't as terrible as everyone else makes it out to be. I smiled, showing Rika I survived the 'death-defying' incident.

She grimaced, sticking her tongue out with her mouth gaped open as if she was retching over the whole idea. "Groooooss. How can you even drink that stuff?"

"You'll know why once you're pregnant," I sighed, setting the jar down on the ground.

She seemed confused, trying to find a double meaning behind my answer. "Wait… what?"

"…Unless you want to hear a very strange story, I highly doubt you'll want to know."

There was a moment of silence. "…As long as you didn't mean getting _me_ pregnant."

I laughed nervously. "Yeah… no I meant _me_."

Rika shook her head. "You were right, I didn't want to know."

I refocused on the cat, trying to change the subject. "What about Jacob?"

"Too human," she giggled.

The cat hissed at me as I reached out towards it. I ignored his plea and ruffled the long fur on his head. It closed its eyes and remained unresponsive to my touch, annoyed that I'd even tried.

"What about Aikka?" she asked curiously. "It originates from a planet that neighbors my own. I've always liked that name."

I smiled, taking a pickle from the jar. "He's your cat, name him what you wish," I told her, taking a bite.

Rika watched the small cat, hearing his purr as their gaze met. The little guy really liked her, and I guess that really goes without saying. Not many animals like me, and that's thanks to this damned watch.

"Little Aikka," I breathed, contemplating the name myself. "It's nice, but it's really all up to you."

"He says he likes it, too," she giggled.

I sighed. "Yet another mystery of Rika," I mumbled to myself. Swampfire understood Rika, so it's not too surprising that she can _talk_ to the cat.

It's better that I don't try to understand it. The more I push, the harder it'll be to understand what I already know about her.

ooo

**Sorry for the interruption guys. I've let this chapter drop for a while now and I'm just picking it back up today (on Aug. 30, 11.21pm, started back up when Ben said, "Little Aikka." ). Since the move my mind has been elsewhere so forgive me if the continuity is off and the characters are, well, out of character. I've also been frequently working on a Jonas fic for myself (and my friend MegaPea will judge whether or not I will publish it once it's finished…) so I haven't really touched this one. I feel bad!**

**Plus, I have a blaring hangover from this spiked drink I picked up at a friend's place. Damn.**

**Bad Lilah D:**

**I'm gonna keep writing through the night. Annnddd this chapter only got put off because I hate name-picking chapters. THEY"RE SO TOUGH TO WRITE! I mean, that one NameGame chapter from my story **_**Second Chances**_** took forever to write if I'm not mistaken…**

**On a side note, I want hot chocolate!**


	18. Death of the Blue Blooded Aliens

**So I currently do not have internet because my computer (BRAND NEW MIGHT I ADD) is dying a painfully quick death. I'm not exactly sure how I'll back up my information without internet but I'll get it worked out.**

ooo

"Is that Jupiter?"

Rika nodded. "It's nice, isn't it?"

I shrugged. "Pluto's still my favorite."

She giggled. "That's not a planet, silly."

I rolled over onto my side, watching Rika. "Well, you're not supposed to exist, yet here you are. Just cause Pluto isn't a planet anymore doesn't mean I can't like it."

She let her head fall to the side, giving me a look. She raised a brow. "Don't be a smartass. You know the Earth government… people… well, _they_ hide things from the general public just like you. You're no different, Alien Boy." She turned her head to face the ceiling again.

"Yeah, but I don't wear a suit, and I don't threaten to kill people who know too much," I laughed, looking back up towards Jupiter and the giant gateway in my ceiling.

Rika smiled, seeing Aikka stumble over her head. After many failed attempts and claws-out climbing over her face, Aikka made his bed on top of Rika's face.

I laughed loudly, finding it hard to keep my eyes open with the sudden laughter.

Rika picked Aikka up and moved him to her chest, where both she and the cat would be more comfortable with the kitten's slumber. The cat made himself comfortable on her stomach, rather than Rika's intended place, and was soon fast asleep.

"So what are we doing today, Alien Boy?" she asked quietly, pulling stray cat fur strands out of her mouth and off of her lips.

I sat up quickly, holding my head from the rush. "Well… There isn't much to do. I'm still awaiting responses for my job applications. There aren't any good movies out… What _do_ you want to do?"

Rika hummed, undecided. "You have one boring planet. Then again, when we weren't studying back home, we were fighting the war. I guess I'm just used to always having something to do, even if violence was brought into it.

"Violence became a way of life for my brothers and I… When the war was over, I was forced to clean up the mess. Turned out I was creating the perfect scenario for my capture."

I looked over my shoulder toward Rika. "How did this turn into a story about your war?"

She sat up and shrugged. "'Unno. But we need to find something to do. I get destructive when I'm bored."

Only moments after Rika stopped speaking, the house phone rang loudly. The caller ID was unknown… I stumbled to my feet, rushing to the phone. "…Hello?"

ooo

**Sorry, but I have to switch the PoVs here. Kevin or Rika… Hmm… Kevin.**

ooo Kevin ooo

"Give the phone to the blue girl."

"…What?" Ben asked, confused.

"Don't be stupid, give the phone to Rika."

I could tell the phone was closer to the girl, now. Her high-pitched voice was easily heard through any other noise.

"Hello?" she asked, giggling quietly.

I cringed. "You might want to take it down a few notches. I don't want you to totally crash."

"What do you mean crash? Ben! Who is this?! …. Oh… You. What do you want?"

I looked around the garage, rubbing my neck with my free hand. At least she isn't so happy now. I think I might've died a little if I wrecked that overly-cheery mood of hers. With this news… I think _I_ may even feel bad. Having to be the one to tell her makes it even worse.

_I_ have to hear her reaction. At least I don't have to be the one to comfort her.

"Look, I don't have time for stupid shit, so cut the chatter and listen." I breathed in, letting it out slowly. Gwen would kill me if I was anything but nice right now, and knowing she's in the other room and could possibly be listening in on the other line…

"Damn it!" I shouted. "Damn it, I can't do this. Gwen?!" I quickly set the phone down, rushing into the other room. "I can't do it. I can't tell her!"

She looked up from her computer with stern eyes.

"You do it."

"I will not! You found out the news, you have to tell her. Plus, didn't the guy specifically tell _you_ to tell her?"

"Well, but… Look, I can't do it, I tried. I can't…"

"What?" she laughed. "You can't break someone's heart? Come on, Kevin! You're as heartless as they come… mostly…" Gwen shook her head. "Well, still, it has to be done. If you can't do it over the phone…"

"Hey, what makes you think I can do it in person?" I sighed. "Fine. You told me to be nice. I could've told her otherwise."

Gwen smiled. "Sure, sure you could've."

I looked toward the front door, then back towards the kitchen. Phone, or not…

"Gwen, go hang up the phone. I'll be back later."

ooo

"You have five seconds to open the door or I'm breaking it down!"

"Go away!" Rika shouted from the other side of the door. "I don't like you!"

"You better shut u—" I stopped myself. Nice. _Try_ to be nice. "Just open the door."

Reluctantly, Rika opened the door, a rather perturbed look on her face. "What?"

"You slam the door and I'll break it down."

"Get on with it. You're not exactly my favorite person. Not now, not ever."

I sighed. "Just-- .... Shut up and come with me." I reached through the doorway and grabbed her arm, pulling her through.

"Hey! Let me go! Ben!!!"

Sure enough, Ben's frantic footsteps passed through the doorway after us. I felt the resistance grow harder as Ben was added to the number of people I was dragging.

"Don't throw a fit, I'm not going to kill her. I just need to borrow your girlfriend for a minute." I didn't bother to look back, not even as the resistance lightened up.

"Look, I'm the only one allowed to yell at Ben," Rika growled.

"I've known the kid for eleven years. I think I've earned that right."

"Just get on with it!" she shouted, ripping her arm from my grasp.

I stopped walking, turning to face her.

"…You're stalling. What's wrong?" she asked.

"St-stalling?! You didn't even give me a chance to hesitate yet!"

She scowled, folding her arms across her chest. "I'm not _isunlgit,_ Kevin."

"And I can understand you, so keep your blue mouth _shut_."

She quickly stood up straight and looked me directly in the eye. "You're avoiding the subject because you're afraid to tell me. Just get on with it before—"

"Rika, your brother's were murdered!" I cut her off.

That's when the awkward silence started.

"…They're after you both. They're going to start killing people off until they find you."

Rika literally dropped to the ground, however it was graceful. She managed to sit down, her legs out in front of her.

I stepped around her, sitting down on the ground where I could at least try and match her gaze. "Ben's up for new charges. He's not eligible for trial…"

Her blue eyes turned upward, watching me. A sudden glitch turned them golden, but in a moment they were back to blue. "They're going to kill him, aren't they?" Her voice was solemn, but it remained stable. The girl was more in a state of shock than anything. No emotions veered through.

"They're not going to take any chances this time. When they get their hands on both of you… Because you're a POW ((**Which is Prisoner of War, in the slim chance that some of you don't know…**)), they're not sentencing you to anything more than non-stop surveillance and a secluded cell.

"But Ben… He's up for lethal injection. I don't know whose brilliant idea it was, but they decided the worst irony would be to die by Earth's standards. They're not going to waste any time, either. The instant he's back on the prison base, he's a dead man."

Rika closed her eyes. "Who told you?" she asked.

Truth was, I didn't know the guy, but I knew he wasn't exactly human and that was enough for me. Either he wanted to make a deal, or he had something important to say.

Or… I was in serious trouble. Either way…

"I gotta go," I told her plainly. "I can't… help you… You can figure it out, but I did my job."

"Bye, Kevin," she whispered, watching me as I stood up.

Now I felt bad. I guess this is what Gwen was talking about when she said I 'must care about Ben _deeeeep_ down.' By hurting Rika with the news… I'm hurting Ben…


	19. Death of the Blue Blooded Aliens p2

**BACK TO BENNN!!!! D: Last chapter was a total bust. I don't like writing in Kevin's PoV…**

ooo

I shouldn't be worried. Rika could kill Kevin in two seconds if she wanted to. Why am I worried? Why do I get the feeling something is wrong…?

I tried to keep my mind off of it by catching Aikka… which wasn't exactly easy.

"Come… come back here! Look, I'm not in the mood to chase you, damn cat!" I managed to corner the cat on the couch. "Check mate," I laughed, grasping the kitten by his scruff. The cat instinctively curled his feet in toward his stomach and hung at my grasp.

"Ah-ha! Gotcha. Can't bead thumbs, kid!" I laughed, bringing him in towards my chest. It seemed cruel to let him hang there, and that wasn't really the intended purpose of catching him to begin with. Aikka began to struggle once he was free from the coma-inducing grasp.

"Just… just sit still, will you? I'm not gonna kill you…"

Aikka hissed at me, his claws digging into my skin. I managed to get a tight enough grasp on him where he couldn't struggle, but I wasn't killing him. I forced him into a position where the Omnitrix was directly by his nose.

That's when things started to look up. He cautiously sniffed it, his eyes wide, his ears pointed directly behind him. When he had his fill, he pulled his head back and hissed, then looked back up towards me. His eyes seemed kinder, now, though cautious.

"There," I sighed, using my other hand to readjust him so I could scratch his head. For the first time, Aikka purred because of something I'd done, and not because Rika had 'saved' him from me.

"…Ben…?"

I looked up from Aikka. I hadn't even heard the door open… The instant I saw the look on Rika's face, I dropped Aikka (who instantly flipped over and landed on his feet) and rushed to her side. A shark, stinging sensation burned in my arm, but I didn't have the time to look down at the damage the cat had caused. I had a bigger priority at the moment.

"What's wrong?"

She first looked down towards the ground before basically collapsing. I quickly reached out to catch her, almost missing.

"Rika! Rika, what's wrong?" I knelt down to the ground to get a better grip on her before standing up, carrying her off to the couch.

"…You're bleeding…"

"I don't care. What's wrong? Are you all right?" I was at the point where I would rush out of the house after Kevin if I had to. Only one syllable, one hint to his name and he's dead.

Once she was safely on the couch, she gave a half-smile. "Not anymore…" She slowly lifted her hand to show me her palm, a stripe of partially dried blood stuck to it.

I looked at her hand, then to my own arm. It was completely clear of the cut.

She wiggled her fingers a bit before letting her hand fall against her stomach.

I fell back, sitting down on the ground by the couch. "I'm not leaving, and I'm not letting you up until you tell me what's wrong."

She laughed softly. "Nothing's wrong, brother. Don't worry. We'll get home soon."

I furrowed my brow, narrowing my gaze. "Brother?"

"Come on, Tano, don't… don't look at me like that." She spoke quietly, as if I'd just woken her up from a nap. "You speak English, too." Her smile grew. "Remember that song mother used to sing us?"

I looked over my shoulder, then back at Rika. "Who the _hell_ are you talking to?"

She closed her eyes, her smile still bright. Then, she began to sing a quiet lullaby-like song, the words in her native tongue. Before long her words grew quiet, and Rika was asleep.

Aikka climbed into my lap, but only as a stair to the couch. He jumped up, being cautious to not hit Rika. He pawed her softly, walking lightly across her stomach. He only circled once, lying down gracefully on seemingly-clumsy paws. He tucked his front legs under his long fur and rested his head down onto her shirt. He seemed concerned, as was I.

I tried to relax, though thoughts of what might've happened made each muscle in my body tense up again. Did Kevin drug her? Did he hurt her? What if… I don't even want to think that.

All I could do was wait until she woke up, _if_ she wakes up, before I can do anything to judge what might've happened.

There's a good chance she blocked it from her mind. Whatever happened that made her delusional must've been extremely traumatic…

I rose to my feet, reluctant to leave Rika. I rushed to the phone and quickly brought it back to the side of the couch. I dialed the last number and awaited an answer.

"…Look, don't yell at me. I had to tell her."

"Tell her _what_? What did you do to her?!"

There was a silence on Kevin's end.

"Rika collapsed the second she walked in here. I don't know what you did, but if you hurt her, I swear—"

Kevin almost laughed, though he tried to stop. "She w-what?" he asked. I could still hear a slight smile in his voice.

"She was delusional. What did you do to her?!" I asked again, louder this time.

"Ben, shut up!"

I gritted my teeth, watching Rika's skin turn a lighter shade of white.

"Look. I told her some really bad news. Don't make me feel worse than I already do."

"What? What did you tell her?"

Kevin hesitated. "Her brothers were murdered. .... I had to tell her!"

Without a second thought, I hung up on Kevin.

Rika didn't seem depressed… She didn't seem to have the same reaction as someone whose family had just been killed. Though everyone reacts differently, this just didn't match up…

ooo

I slowly opened my eyes, wondering why I was awake if it wasn't morning. A slight movement on the other end of the bed further aided my sudden wake. The movement stopped by my left. At first I thought it was Aikka since he'd come in earlier but left for some reason. Then it spoke.

"Mother used to sing to us all the time…," Rika mumbled, curling up on the other half of the mattress.

I groaned quietly as I reached across to click on the lamp. I winced from the sudden light change and rolled over before sitting up. "Wha's wrong?" I asked, rubbing my eyes. I quickly decided to change my question, as things didn't go too well last time I asked that. "Are you all right?"

She rolled over and reached her arms straight out, watching the small involuntary movements make them swing only slightly. "Yeah… I guess… I'm used to this by now… The leaders took over our education and welfare when mother and father were killed in battle… Since I was the oldest, I looked out for my brothers. I kept Mother's memories alive. Father was big on armed forces, and none of his kids were too fond of him, myself included. Even when he was gone we didn't find respect for him."

I yawned. "So fighting was big on your planet?"

She shrugged. "The war has been going on the entire time I've been alive. I've never known anything different. Which… is why I resolved so quickly to punch Kevin when we landed on Earth. That's how I was taught. The leaders taught us many fighting styles. We were told we would be needed in battle when our education was finished.

"I was the first to complete our studies on life, so I was sent to battle first. I met Mother out on the front lines my first day out. I didn't want her harmed, so I sent her home. Father was soon to follow after a critical injury. They were both murdered in their quarters."

Rika sighed, letting her arms fall against her chest. "I'm numb to it… I guess…"

I glanced over towards her. "Well… I'm not sure if that's a good thing…" I scratched at my scalp, unsure of how to help her. "Is there anything you want? Anything I can do?"

Rika sat up slowly, ruffling her hair. "Not sure. It'd be nice to go home, but that's not really an option… It'd be nice to leave the house, too, but I'm afraid to leave."

"What? Why?"

She yawned. "Kevin said they're after us. They killed my brothers in hopes we would surface. I'm up for solitary confinement and twenty-four-seven surveillance. You… you're up for death row. _Immediate_ death."

I shrugged. "So what's new? Someone's always after me. I tend to tune it out and hope for the best. If someone attacks me, so be it."

"I don't want you to die, Ben Tennyson," she mumbled. "Hell, I don't want to die either… but I don't want to live knowing you were killed for _their_ wrong-doings rather than your own."

I laughed quietly. "You don't even know what I did. Not the details, at least."

"Does it matter? I knew you weren't lying when you said you didn't do anything wrong."

"I didn't say I didn't do anything wrong. I said I did what I had to do and it saved my friends. I knew the consequences if I got caught and I chose to live with them."

Rika stuck her tongue out. "Oh, what does it matter?! All I said is that I didn't want you to die! Is that so wrong?"

"Wrong? No. Stupid? Yes. If you're going to worry about me, then you're digging yourself an early grave. I'm not going down without a fight, and if I die, you should be proud not _sad_. I did my damnedest and if it kills me, I must've gone down doing something I loved."

She smiled. "Stubborn ass."

"So stop worrying about me!"

Rika stood up on the bed, raising her arms out as if to balance herself, and walked off the bed, one foot in front of the other. "Well, I can do what I want… in silence… You can't do anything about that!"

"Bet I can."

She laughed. "_Goodnight_, Ben Tennyson."

I rolled my eyes, laughing. "Get some sleep. Maybe in your _own_ room."

She whined, "My bed _sucks_. The couch is un-comfy…"

I sighed. Was the alternative all that bad? "Do what you want," I told her, reaching over toward the lamp.

And the second the light went out, her voice chimed in the silence. "Goodnight, Alien Boy…"


	20. Unwanted Visitors

"WAKE UP!"

"Urrghh."

"Damn it, Ben Tennyson, get your lazy ass up! I'm tired of waiting!"

"Rawrr. Nooo." I pulled the covers over my head, hiding from all the bright lights Rika had turned on.

"Don't make me come in there."

I pulled the covers down just far enough to peer out towards the angry, blue-skinned girl. When I saw her face, I quickly hid again. It was a look that burned deep into your skin. At that point, I knew I was in for it.

"Whyyyy?!" I whined, still sheltered by the blankets.

"Because. I. Said. So."

"You're not my _mommy_."

She growled. "I'm _grieving_! WAKE UP!"

I sighed. "_WHY_?!"

"I want to get out of the house! It's stifling in here!"

"So? Open a window."

I could hear her take in a sharp breath. "DON'T MAKE ME DRAG YOU OUT OF THE HOUSE!"

I pulled the covers down only slightly and cautiously looked around the room. "…Would it kill you to get on a _human_ sleeping schedule?" I asked as my eyes caught the clock. "It's five-fucking-forty A-M!"

"…Your point?"

"NOTHING IS OPEN!"

"So?"

I took a deep breath to calm down. "If we leave… we can't go anywhere… because everything… will be _closed_."

Rika pursed her lips, folding her arms across her chest. "I don't care. I want to leave."

"And I want to get some sleep, but it looks like we're both going to be disappointed."

A loud meow interrupted the argument, followed by little Aikka jumping up on the bed. He turned around to face Rika and meowed again.

"…You're just lucky Aikka is hungry. You better be up when I get back."

"I. Am. Up."

She shook her head and left the room, making her way to the kitchen.

Argument number one. This is usually how it goes… every day. Rika bugs me about one thing or another and it turns into an argument. Truthfully, I hate arguing, but it seems to be Rika's fault to begin with.

I sat up slowly, rubbing my eyes. "Really? Five? Why…" I yawned, rubbing my eyes again. When I moved my hands, I saw a fuzzy little Aikka standing by my lap, a pleasant look on his face. "I thought you were eating, little guy…"

He meowed proudly and rubbed against my knee, rolling over onto his side.

"He seems to have taken a liking to you…"

I looked up from the cat. "Yeah… I forced him to face his fears," I laughed.

Rika shrugged, running her fingers through her hair. "I really want to go home… if only for a moment…" Rika chewed on the inside of her cheek.

I yawned again. "I wish I could take you. I have business here. I can't leave again. Not unless lives depended on it."

"Glad to see you still have your 'protect all humans' mentality. Where do I fall?"

I smiled. "Probably for me… if you haven't already," I laughed.

"Shut up, Alien Boy. You already know what I want; you're just too… reserved. I'd hardly vouch that you had a male brain with the way you act. Most of the time, at least," Rika sniffed in.

I smiled. "That's because I'm going to do the smart thing and avoid giving in at all costs… even if it kills me."

She smiled. "So you _do_ want to give in? To what? I'm not doing anything."

"Don't give me that bull. After everything you've done, you're going to deny it? Bull."

Rika laughed. "Well, you'll have to cave in at some point. You're only human."

"Right now, I'm giving into hunger. So, if you'll excuse me…" I rolled off the side of the bed before pulling off the covers, standing to my feet. I held my head, the ever common rush affecting my vision. Mom said it was low blood pressure. Dad said it was low blood _sugar_. Which is why I drink a soda every morning… It fixes my blood sugar and takes my mind off of anything else.

I walked past Rika on my way out of the room, finding she had grasped my hand to tag along. I'd neglected to change out of my clothes the night before, too worried about Rika to notice. I never minded it to begin with. I didn't see the difference between the two outfits anyway. Maybe minor comfort changes were implemented, but what else? Oh. The money spent on each. Right.

"I have a question," Rika hummed, pulling me off to the far corner of the kitchen. "It's been bugging me for a while now. I saw you buy this thing and I have no idea what it does." She poked at a small appliance.

I smiled, yawning. "Well… it's supposed to make coffee…"

"Coffee? Like Cocoa?"

I shrugged. "Different beans, different outcomes. Cocoa makes _chocolate_. Coffee is a drink."

Rika sighed. "Too complicated. Just show me."

I walked over to the fridge, forcing Rika to release my hand. "Let me… let me get something to eat first."

She sighed again, inspecting the machine.

I pulled a green soda can out of the fridge and set it on the counter before looking around the house. If I'm not mistaken, I left the cordless phone sitting around the living room somewhere… "Got it," I yawned, wondering if I'd missed any calls.

I'd gone to bed early, the stress of the incident prior having exhausted my energy reservoirs. The screen read 'New Voicemail,' so I typed in the strange mailbox number we were given and listened to the message.

"Mr. Tennyson? Hi, this is Kate. I'm calling you back on the job application you'd submitted earlier this week…"

I sighed, her tone not sounding too promising. Then again, it was early, and nothing sounded too good in the morning.

Suddenly, someone knocked on the door. Rika pushed herself off the counter and told me she would get it, since I was on the phone.

I nodded and continued to listen to the message I'd partially tuned out on. "…. who'd like to inform you that your application have been approved and we'd like to set up an interview with you for wednes—"

Rika suddenly slammed the door, pressing her back against it and her arms our as if to keep it from opening again. "BEN! I think someone's here to see you!" she told me loudly.

The phone slipped from my ear and all joy from the accepted application escaped me. Something was wrong.

Rika slid down the door and her breathing picked up considerably.

The phone dropped to the tiled floor and I rushed over to Rika's side. "Who is it?"

"You don't want to know," she laughed involuntarily—a nervous reaction.

My eyes widened and I looked up towards the door, as if to peer through the wood and see who it was. "Okay," I told Rika, watching the panicked emotion cause the mask to glitch considerably. "Rika, I need you to go into my room and hide in the closet. Shut the door and lock it. Don't let anyone in."

Rika nodded. "I don't think I've ever felt scared… not like this…"

I helped her to her feet, the door beginning to shake violently with an external force trying to take it down. "Go. GO!" I pushed her off down the hall and she ran, fearful eyes staring at me through the crack in the door before she closed it behind her.

I took a deep breath, and tried to pull together a scenario. I already knew who was at the door, but I didn't know what to expect. Were they prison guards, or soldiers protecting the prison? No doubt they knew what to expect from me… but how could I know what to expect from them?

The door took another hit and wood began to splinter. That's when I decided to take a different route outside of the house.

Before I could even touch the Omnitrix, a quiet meow interrupted everything. Aikka's chocolate eyes looked at me from under the couch.

"…Shit." I groaned. Aikka put a hitch in my plan. I couldn't just leave him here. He was Rika's cat, and I couldn't take an extra two seconds to toss the cat into my room with Rika. That would surely spell death for me and the cat, and probably Rika. I needed every second I could get.

I ran from the doorway to the couch and scooped the cat up. He didn't care anymore. He knew his life was at risk (or thought it was, like he would with any other loud noise) and wanted someone—anyone to save him.

I scratched at the Omnitrix with the tip of my finger—all I could use with the cat in my arms—and somehow activated it. Big Chill could get me out of here. He's my only option for a quick getaway and a good distraction.

All I needed to do was distract them long enough to get them away from the house and lose my trail long enough for me to drop the cat off at Kevin's. Gwen would take care of the cat, even if Kevin has a problem with him.

"Hold on tight, little guy," I warned, pressing down the faceplate as best as I could.

I wanted to stretch my wings out as soon as they appeared, but I had to mind the cat. He gave me a strange look as if to say, "Shut up and get on with it."

I sighed and strayed away from my usual antics. I leaped up towards the ceiling and concealed the kitten in my wings, phasing through the ceiling in an instant. The upstairs neighbors were awake, surprisingly. Though, not too surprisingly, it was because of the ruckus downstairs.

Great. We're waking the neighborhood.

Wait… they don't want to be spotted by anyone… this could be good. If my neighbors wake up, then my current opponents will be hesitant to show themselves. If they can't hide… they'll leave…

Bellwood doesn't have many places to hide without running into at least one Plumber. This is going to work to my advantage. Who knew living in a boring town would pay off?

Once we were out of the building, I looked to the ground to find more soldiers than expected. However, they looked human… I wasn't sure of their true race, but either way their human features allowed them to follow after me without the need to hide.

Damn.

I sighed. Aikka's claws began digging into my skin, though it hurt less than it would've normally. Either it was the adrenalin, or the fact that I had no idea of the alien's defenses through what seemed like skin.

I was reluctant to become visible again, but without it there would be no distraction. Without a distraction, Rika would be in danger…

"Hey!" I shouted toward them, without much success. My voice wasn't all that loud, one drawback to this creature. I sighed. Too many quick changes and I wouldn't make it to Kevin's house, or even back here for Rika.

_Any_ quick changes and I'm in danger of draining the Omnitrix faster than planned. I have fifteen minutes maximum to get to Kevin's, drop off Aikka, get back home, and get Rika safely away from this mess before another disaster unfolds. If I lose the ability to use the Omnitrix, we're both dead.

After ruthless attempts to get their attention, I finally gave up and decided a little destruction was the only way. And… the death of one or two of the soldiers would probably help out in the end anyway.

Freezing the first soldier wasn't hard. The next few… When they began to scatter and hide to take their aim, I lost focus and began to turn to survival mode. I had to get moving quickly. At least now I had their attention, so they would follow after their target rather than a lesser fugitive. I was the most dangerous and the most wanted. If they lost me and caught Rika instead, they might not have such a good outlook for their jobs. But if they catch me, at least they'd have another chance to find her.

… All the more reason not to get caught.

"Hold on. Pretend it's just a ride on my bike. ….Okay bad example, you hated that. At least Rika was there last time. I know I'm not your favorite, little guy, but I'm all you've got right now so hang in there!" I made sure I had a good grip on Aikka before flying off, and noted that not only were the soldiers following me, but they were shooting as well.

I looked to the east, finding a rather large patch of trees in the direction of Kevin's house. It was the forest, or forest-like line of trees I passed when riding to—or nearby—Kevin's. It was perfect to lose the soldiers' trail and on my way to getting Aikka to safety.

Aikka meowed fearfully, his tail wrapped around my arm. His long, off-white fur was being furiously whipped around in the wind, but he was all right for the time being.

I tried not to watch him, hoping his fear-filled eyes wouldn't distract me from the plan. There was a natural pond in the middle of the trees, and it seemed like a good place to lose them. Unfortunately, the only option was to quick change to Brainstorm… Now I was beginning to worry.

I safely landed on the ground and looked at Aikka. He seemed a little calmer now that we were on the ground, but it wouldn't last long. Not with what I was going to do next. Cats hate water… After today, that cat probably won't even go near water, let alone drink it.

I set him on the ground. "Just… give me two seconds," I breathed, trying to calm my nerves before doing a potentially dangerous change.

Aikka was merely happy to be on his feet and took refuge next to a large rock embedded in the ground only a few inches away from where I set him down.

I looked around the pond, then turned towards the trees. They were closing in on the pond. I nodded to myself and faced the water, grasped the Omnitrix symbol, and turned it to the left twice. In one moment I'd drained probably more than half of the Omitrix's power, yet potentially bought both Aikka and I some time.

I looked over at the cat who had the look of 'dinner' in his eyes as he watched me. "I'm trying to save your life. Be grateful, feline."

I've never been used to Brainstorm's vernacular, nor his overwhelming amount of knowledge. I have never been sure if it was to be considered annoying or helpful… Right about now, I'd say both.

Sadly, I didn't have much in the way of… appendages to grasp onto the cat, nor wings to shelter him in from the water. I was beginning to think Jet Ray may have been a better idea, but I had no second chances now; I had to make do with my minor—or maybe major—mistake.

"Hold still. I'm going to hate this more than you're going to hate me." I carefully picked him up with what seemed like potentially dangerous pinchers and stuffed the terrified kitten in the safest place I could think of—my mouth. ((**Don't blame me. Just read on it'll get funnier, and you'll see why I did it xD**))

The cat had little room to struggle, but I was sure after today, getting just about anything pierced wouldn't be half as bad since Aikka would've done a worse job with his claws. I quickly looked around and climbed into the pond, trying to disturb the water as little as possible.

Now, as I crawled to the deepest part of the pond, I had time to think. And the only thought in my mind was the fact that I didn't drink my soda…

I rolled my eyes and kept watch on the surface of the pond. No helicopters, thank God, but I could feel the ground rumble as the two large Jeeps carrying the soldiers arrived. I could hear the soldiers unload and begin shooting at the trees and the surrounding area.

I quickly wondered how long we'd been under the water, and hoped the cat wasn't going to kill me once we were safe. If they didn't leave soon enough… another potentially dangerous move was our next resort.

Two more minutes and I feared for the cat. That was it, I couldn't wait any more. _Don't kill me, Aikka, _I prayed in my mind, quickly pushing off toward the surface. And it only took two seconds for them to spot me. Luckily, I was faster than them.

I shot off towards the edge of the pond and crawled out fast enough to evade their threatening shots. Once I was safely in the trees, I only had a moment to act. I pulled the kitten out and sighed. "Don't give me that look. You don't taste all that pleasant either, mongrel." I set him carefully on the ground so he could assess the damage I'd done to his 'precious' fur and turned the Omnitrix symbol to the left five times.

In an instant, I was one creature cloned countless times. I had no time to waste. "Echo-Echo," I quickly exclaimed, and the words echoed from creature to creature. The original quickly scooped up Aikka and rushed him as far away from the soldiers as possible, yet on the correct path to getting to Kevin.

"Don't cry, little guy," I laughed. "I'm sure Gwen will give you a nice bath." The jokes weren't really in the cat's best interest, but they kept my spirits up.

"Back off!" the copies yelled in unison, sending a sonic shock towards all the soldiers in range. They clutched their heads in pain, one of them soon complaining of bleeding ears. I'd never projected that on humans prior to today, but at least now I know they're humans.

That also meant the feds were informed of my escape by some God-sent miracle. I'm surprised they'd actually communicate with our government. Our government isn't worth the time of day by the general public, let alone supposedly non-existent E.T.'s…

I quickly identified their commander and began to take him down. Soldiers began to pick us off one by one, and it didn't take long to get back up. When one of the men was too strong to oppose, all I had to do was scream and let the rest take course.

When one of the copies grabbed hold of the commander's head, it only took a moment to break his neck and move on. The next in line was the first to order the remaining uninjured soldiers to attack. He was my next target. Another copy took him down in an instant. They only grew easier from there.

The remaining soldiers were easy to knock out and kill with their own weaponry. That took care of the first round of soldiers, and it would probably only be a matter of time until they realized I wasn't captured and their troop was killed… that meant more soldiers and more innocent people to be killed.

Those soldiers were only doing their jobs, and I knew there were at least twenty-six mothers going to get that six A.M. wake-up call that no mother ever wants to get. I never wanted to be the cause of that…

I turned the Omnitrix to the right seven times and continued to run as the copies were quickly magnetized back to the original. Once they were all absorbed, another potentially dangerous quick change drained yet another vital portion of the Omnitrix's power.

So far… the Omnitrix was holding out. I wasn't in critical danger any longer so there was no chance in hell it would recharge itself_ again_, if it even had when Aikka and I were in the pond. I hoped that even a little recharge would've happened as any power is better than what I started out with. The only time I'd notice a quick recharge is if I was entirely out of power and back to my normal, weak, human self and it suddenly said there was power.

The Omnitrix isn't big on protecting me, or even notifying me that I could possibly save my own life. But if _it_ happens to be in danger, it makes no buts about getting us both out of there safely. It's one selfish piece of crap but without it…

Hell, without it I wouldn't have gone to prison. Without it, Gwen wouldn't be with that asshole Kevin. Without it… Grandpa Max wouldn't be caught up in too much of the Plumber's business… He'd probably still be retired…

Damn it. Without the Omnitrix, all our lives would be a lot better.

But I wouldn't have met Rika…

Weighing the sides, nothing matched up. Rika weighed down the scale a lot, but so did all the cons. Either way, my opinion didn't matter. I had the Omnitrix and the only one who could decide to get rid of it would be… well, frankly, the Omnitrix would be the only one to decide.

Back to Big Chill, I was safe to fly. I gripped on to slimy cat and grimaced, kicking off into the air. "Ew… I'll probably be picking your fur out of my mouth for months. Don't feel too bad. Your revenge was well-taken. I have four holes in my tongue and a hairball the size of Texas."

The cat seemed satisfied, though perturbed that his fur was still a mess. The clean freak twitched and urged to lick his fur, but there was no allowance between my grasp and his tongue's destination.

I laughed at the sight of his failed attempts. This was something I wished I had on video.

I looked beyond the trees, finding Kevin's hose to only be moments away. How would I get someone's attention, though? Knock on the door? Kevin would take one look and laugh. Gwen would probably be asleep. That meant I had to break in Big Chill-style—right through the wall…

I leaned in towards the left and headed straight for the upstairs, eastern-facing bedroom. Aikka's claws grew tense as the wall and our seemingly-immanent crash grew closer. As the wall was supposed to hit and kill us both—or cave into the force—we passed safely through and I managed to stop just before the bed. Since the sun was starting to rise, there was enough light in the room. I carefully walked over to Gwen and set Aikka gently on the bed. The terrified kitten gave in and fell to his knees, shaking in fright.

"Gwen," I breathed. "Gwen, wake up."

Luckily, she was a light sleeper, and my voice was louder in the silence. The red-head slowly opened her eyes, but quickly jolted up at the sight of a strange creature at her bedside.

"Shh! It's me, Ben. I have a favor to ask!" I quickly covered her mouth, but Gwen proceeded to get out of bed.

"Ben!" she scolded quietly. "What are you doing here?!"

"They're after us. I managed to… well, kill them off, but I need you to do me a _huge_ favor and keep Rika's—our cat safe. Just for a little while."

Gwen rubbed her right eye, looking toward Aikka. "Aw… Ben, don't tell me you flew him all the way here." She reached out to brush his fur with her hand and quickly pulled back. "What did you do to him?!" she asked quickly, wiping a strange substance from her hand onto her comforter.

I laughed nervously. "Well… I did what I had to to keep the cat safe. Just keep him safe, all right?"

She sighed. "Kevin's not going to like this."

"Kevin's an ass and needs to suck it up."

She rolled her eyes. "Get out of here. Please. I'm tired."

"You're tired," I sighed, turning back towards the wall. "Rika woke me up at _five_."

She looked at the clock. "It's only six."

I quietly cried to myself. It'd only been fifteen minutes… Though, that meant I had at the very least only three minutes left to make use of the Omnitrix. "I'll see you later," I breathed, taking another leap through the wall. I already missed the cat, oddly enough. I'd grown quite attached to him, even if I'd just torn down all the trust between us trying to keep his furry ass safe…

It took most of the time I had left to get back home, and even more time to try to get Rika to open the door of the closet. Trying to make a plausible argument using a creature that has a voice volume limit of only so much is pretty much impossible.

"Just open the door!"

"No!"

The fact that Rika wasn't really familiar with Big Chill or any of the other nine aliens didn't really help me out, either. "Open the damn door, Rika. It's Ben."

"….Prove it!"

I sighed, the Omnitrix inevitably timing out. "You call me _Alien Boy_."

"Anyone could've overheard that."

"I bought you a cat."

She laughed. "You could've been following us around."

I rubbed my neck, yawning. "You woke me up at five-forty-five. You pinned my arm down on the office desk and kissed me. You hate the clothes you picked out for yourself. I left my damn soda on the counter and I'm extremely irritable. Rika, just open the goddamn door, I'm not in the mood to argue!"

A cautious moment later, the door slowly began to open. Rika's suspicious expression turned to a thankful smile as she launched herself out of the closet and threw her arms around my neck. "Thanks for coming back."

I sighed. "Yeah, well, it wasn't easy getting that damned cat out of here. You wouldn't believe what I had to do to get him to safety."

"Now _that_ sounds like the Ben I know. So… where is my little Aikka anyway?"

"Gwen has him. He'll be fine."

She rested her head on my shoulder, letting out a relieved breath. "Good. I don't think I could forgive you if you kept him in harm's way."

"Whoa, whoa, wait." I pried Rika off of me. "So you're saying you weren't even _slightly_ worried I would've died out there?"

She laughed. "Pshh, _no_. I know you could kick ass. If I doubted that for a second I wouldn't have agreed to lock myself up in such an unprotected room and leave you to fight them off."

I wasn't exactly sure if that was a compliment or not.

"So… how long until we have to leave this place?"

I rolled my shoulders, a cold shiver running up my spine. "Probably a few hours. I don't know how long it'll be until back-up discovers they're dead."

She laughed. "You killed them?"

"Yeah, and I had to eat your cat and hide at the bottom of the pond." I pulled one of many strands of cat fur from my mouth. "It's not fun trying to save a cat."

"Ew, you're sick! You ate my cat?!"

"No, I told you he's with Gwen."

She folded her arms across her chest for a moment, angered by my strange actions. Then she stepped forward and stood on her toes to kiss my cheek. "Well, at least he's safe. I guess. Thanks."

I smiled. "Don't ever make me save him again. I'm going to be picking his fur out of my mouth until hell freezes over," I stuck my tongue out, pulling off a few more strands.

She laughed. "Your fault, not mine."

"Yeah, yeah."

ooo

**One, I'm on a roll.**

**Two, Damn this chapter is long. Longer than the average length of a chapter in my novel…**

**Three, Here comes the next chapter.**


	21. Meeting

"Stay here. Please, dear God, stay here, Rika."

"…Why?" she asked, folding her arms against her chest.

"I don't want to be here. I don't even want to be in this _area_. Please, just trust me when I tell you to _stay here_."

She leaned against the tree. "Make it quick. The sun isn't exactly providing any relief from the breeze."

I let out a held breath, glad that she'd given up the argument so quickly.

This area gave me the creeps. Old memories—good memories, _bad_ memories—old friends… I slowly and reluctantly walked away from Rika toward an old apartment I knew well. I used to live in this complex… Someone else does too, and that's who I'm here to see.

I carefully took each step towards the door, reaching up to knock. At first I was afraid, but I realized it had to be done. Something had to be done…

I turned around, looking at the surrounding trees while I waited for an answer at the door.

"…Ben? What are you doing here?"

I looked over my shoulder before turning around. "Hey… Julie… I need your help."

She hadn't changed very much since I'd last seen her… It was awkward to see her again, but it couldn't be avoided. I need everyone's help with this, and that meant anyone I trusted that was willing to lend a hand.

Julie sighed, shaking her head. "Ben, if you're talking about what I think you're talking about, I'm done with that. I got over it that you didn't want me around, but I stopped helping _anyone_ with these types of escapades a long time ago. I'm sorry, Ben… I can't help you."

"Then why do you still have Ship?" I asked, seeing the cute dog-like alien peer out from behind her.

Julie glanced behind her and sighed. "Ship is a pet. He's always been a pet."

Ship stepped out from behind her, cautiously walking up towards me. He remembered.

"I'm trying my hardest to make things work but I can't do this without your help—without _everyone's_ help. Rika is going to die… we're both going to die if this doesn't turn out well."

"Rika?" she asked, crossing her arms just like Rika had.

"…It's better not to ask. It's a little complicated right now."

She rolled her eyes, shaking her head.

"I'm not being selfish, all right? I'm not asking you to help save my own ass. Okay, well, I am, but I'm asking you to help save Rika too. They're going to keep killing people off until they get to us. So technically… you'll be helping us save like… everyone…"

"You're still that stupid, gullible, 'take action first' Ben I knew back then. You haven't changed," she sighed, gripping the door.

"Julie, wait. Please. I'm begging you to help us. I don't care if you never speak to me again once this is said and done, but I need your help. Please…"

Julie narrowed her gaze, digging her nails into the metal door. "…. Fine. One chance. I'll help you out. Screw this up and you can kiss my ass 'cause I'm done."

I smiled. "Thank you, Julie!" I ignored Ship and the foreboding doorway, rushing up to hug her. "You have no idea how grateful I am."

Julie hesitated to hug me back, but before she had the chance, I turned around and began running back off toward Rika and my bike. "Meet us and Central park in an hour!" I told her, waving as I ran off.

"So, who was it?"

"Forget it, let's go."

Rika laughed sarcastically. "Old girlfriend?"

"…Yes. Now let's go," I urged, pulling on my helmet.

Rika growled.

I looked up from the bike and laughed as I climbed on. "Jealous?"

She huffed, stepping off the edge of the curb onto the bike. "No," she grumbled.

I laughed again. "I'm sure…"

ooo

"How much longer?"

"Just a few minutes. Why are you so anxious?"

"I like Gwen. She's really nice. Plus, I want to know how my cat is doing."

I laughed. "We're not going to their house. We're meeting them back were we first landed. All of them."

She sighed. "Kevin too?"

I nodded. "And a few people you haven't exactly met yet."

"Like who?"

"Just be patient, Rika…"

ooo

"Ben! We're over here!" Gwen waved, alerting Rika and I of everyone's whereabouts.

"Are you going to tell me now?"

"In a minute, hold on."

We reached Gwen in only a moment and she latched herself onto me for a moment. "Glad you're all right," my cousin smiled, redirecting our attention to the people standing around.

"Right, right. Rika…," I smiled. "This is Cooper. He's helped us out once or twice."

Cooper rolled his eyes. "More like saved your butt countless times It's nice to meet you, Rika." Now, if anyone's changed since I'd last seen them, it's Cooper. He took Gwen's—or was it Kevin's—advice to get in shape and stuck to it. He looks quite decent now.

"Ben, it's nice to meet Rika again," Paradox chimed in. "We've had some great—and not so great—meetings. This is the former. Very nice to meet you," he smiled, holding a hand out to Rika.

Rika just smiled, shying away from the Earth greeting. "Nice to meet you to…?"

"That's Alan. He's something of an alien."

Alan waved from his seat in the grass and Rika waved back.

"Ben, some of these people creep me out," Rika whispered to me through clenched teeth. "Especially that guy in something of a medic outfit."

"Paradox? Yeah, he's very aptly named… Gwen… where are Helen, Pierce, and Manny?"

She smiled, though it seemed inappropriate. "They're busy."

"With what?"

"Something in the Null Void, I guess."

"And Grandpa?"

Her smile disappeared. "Same…"

"How'd you manage to get Cooper and Alan, then?"

She shrugged. "They weren't busy."

I sighed.

Rika laughed. "She acts like she wanted it that way. For the first three people, at least."

"Yeah, they aren't exactly her favorite people."

"Can we get on with it? You made us all come here and we're all _bored_," Kevin growled.

"I'm quite content, actually. Especially with the outcome of this meeting," Paradox laughed.

Cooper laughed as well. "Dude, this guy gets on my nerves. If you already know what's going to happen, why are you here? You already know your part in the plan, why aren't you out setting things in motion?"

"Because as soon as Ben lea— Well, let's just say I'm needed here."

"Looks like we're missing someone," Rika giggled.

"Yeah…," I looked around.

"She… went to get smoothies," Gwen nodded.

"Truthfully?"

"Yes, Ben, she didn't take off just because you were ten minutes late. She went to get Cooper, Alan, Kevin and I smoothies.

"Aw… I wonder why she isn't getting me one…," I sighed. "Well, in any case…"

"Guys! I'm back! They were out of blueberries, Alan, so I got you a—Oh… Hi, Ben. Sorry, I would've gotten you one, but I don't remember your favorite." Julie ran up, carrying a case of fresh smoothies.

Rika's grip grew tighter on my arm.

"Behave or you're leaving," I told Rika.

She growled.

Julie began passing out the smoothies that were ordered and everyone sat down on the ground. At least, everyone expect Paradox, myself, Rika, and Julie. Julie was wearing a skirt, so she was excused. Paradox… he doesn't need an excuse. Gwen was leaning against a rock rather than sitting down, so she didn't really have to worry about _her_ skirt, and Rika was standing because I was standing. It was expected I would stand because I was supposed to direct this… _meeting._

"All right, so I assume Gwen told you what's happening."

"No," Kevin laughed.

I took a deep breath. "Okay… So… In a result of our escape, they're going to kill everyone they suspect may know of where we are until we're captured." My proposed plan was beginning to seem quite trite now that I was hearing it aloud... "Well, point is I need all of you to set them back here on Earth. Rika… since you're the only one who knows where the ship is and how to fly it…"

"Wait, Ben, if we're keeping things down here on Earth, what are you going to be doing?"

"_Shut up, bitch, when it's your turn to talk Ben will tell you,_" Rika grumbled. I knew Julie heard her by the look on her face.

"What is your problem?! You've been giving me the evil eye ever since I stepped foot into your view!"

Rika looked at me for permission to attack her, but soon looked away to take matters into her own hands. "I don't know who you think you are, but Ben was talking! Let him finish!"

"No, I'm beyond that. Right now, I want to know who you think _you_ are! What the hell is your problem, _bitch_?!"

Rika quickly stepped forward, now in range if she decided to hit her, or worse… "My problem is _you_! You're… You're going to ruin everything!"

"Girls…," Paradox chimed. "Ben, I fear they're changing the outcome of this meeting…"

I sighed. "That's Rika… When she wants something and someone stands in her way, she won't hesitate for a second to take them down."

"So she thinks Julie is in her way to getting… you? Ben, if that's the case, you have no worries."

I looked at him. "What do you mean?"

"Oh… wait… _She_ has no worries… Hm."

I gritted my teeth.

"Can we get on with this, _please_?" Kevin asked.

"Hey, guys, I'm happy as long as I have my smoothie," Alan laughed.

Cooper agreed with a simple nod, though he seemed more interested in the cat fight.

I wanted to disappear.

"_You_ only have a problem with _me_ because you like Ben! You can have him, I got over him a long time ago." She folded her arms across her chest.

Rika gave a smug smile. "Is that why your heart beat suddenly picked up speed?" She matched Julie's motions, moving her arms to her chest.

"Are you accusing me of _lying_?"

"No, I'm saying that stupid pet of yours is peeing on that bush. OF COURSE I'M SAYING YOU'RE LYING!" She threw her arms down to her sides.

Cooper laughed. "Ooh. Good one."

Kevin groaned. "I think this is a little too sweet," he nudged Gwen, referring to his smoothie.

Alan stood up, quickly rushing away from the fight scene. "Ben…? Is this normal?"

"For Rika? Yes. For Julie? No…"

Alan tapped Paradox. "_Is this going to turn out well or are we going to have to evacuate the area_?"

Paradox smiled. "Possibly both."

Both Alan and I cringed at his words.

"Any possibility that Rika will kill Julie?" I asked.

"Seventy-four point six-five chance."

"Ooh, violence. Now I'm interested," Kevin laughed.

I walked towards the middle of the lopsided circle we created, watching Rika and Julie as their fight progressed. It seemed like Julie had finally set Rika off, key to why she's now yelling unintelligible words to my ex.

"You know what they say, Ben…," Cooper sighed. "It's never good to have your ex and your current girlfriend in the same room."

I looked at Cooper, confused. "How would _you_ know?"

Cooper cleared his throat, taking a step back. ".... Right."

"Rika."

I waited for an answer, or a silence to the incessant yelling between the two of them.

"Rika. .... Rika! Rika, shut up!" I yelled over the two of them.

Rika quickly drew her arms in toward her chest, grumbling what seemed like cursing in her native tongue under her breath.

"Look, I told you to behave."

"Not my fault," she growled.

I looked at Julie.

"I am _not_ working with her. Ever. You can't make me stay on the same planet with that psychotic alien."

"Wait," Cooper interrupted us. "She's an alien?" Unfortunately… Cooper didn't stay as smart as we would've hoped. There was a give and take, and giving the most of his attention on staying in shape took away certain technological skills that might've come in handy. However, Technopathy is still an easily accessible power for him, he doesn't use it much anymore.

Rika pried the mask off her face, tossing it on the ground.

"Don't do that!" Kevin objected.

"Kevin, you gave me that mask—"

"For reasons we won't discuss," Kevin interrupted nervously.

I cleared my throat. "Fact is that's my mask. And Rika is mad. Be glad she isn't doing that to you."

Kevin sat back against the rock.

"Now… Yes, Rika is an alien… My God, people, are you really that stupid?"

Cooper sighed. "Well it's obvious, now!"

Alan nodded. "If it wasn't for the strange language, I would've never guessed."

"Ben, this isn't going to turn out well. You need to turn things around in the next five minutes or you're going to run out of time…" You know things aren't going well when even the master of time is worried.

I sighed. "Everyone just shut up and listen. Rika, sit down. Now."

She looked at me, turned around, and stomped off to where we originally were.

"Thank you. Now…" I brushed my hands together. "Kevin, Alan. You'll serve as a defense force. Julie, Gwen, Cooper… you will have to keep things as hidden as possible. No one is allowed to know. No one. If anyone finds out… I don't care what you have to do, but do it. Lock them up, kill them, get rid of them, as long as they're not of use to anyone looking for information.

"Paradox… You're the only one who knows how much time we have. You have access to things we don't."

"Ben, I don't necessarily always know how things are going to end…"

"But you have a better advantage over an uneducated guess by any of the others."

"Ben… What are you going to do?" Julie asked.

I looked at Rika, then towards Julie. "I'm going to get caught."

I think this was the first time that everyone was interested in the conversation, and everyone had an objection. Sadly, all the objections were shouted out at once.

I grasped the sides of my head. "Guys! Guys, stop, you don't understand."

Rika turned and gripped my arm. "You can't! Ben, they'll kill you!"

"No, they won't!" I stopped her. "I can't explain. I don't know how to tell all of you without worrying you."

"Worrying?" Gwen looked up. "If you thought Kevin and I were worried before, you have no idea now."

"Speak for yourself," Kevin laughed.

"Shut up, Kevin, you know you're worried, too. Ben, you can't do this."

Paradox turned towards me. "She's right. You don't know what you're doing."

Alan nodded. "Ben, you can't do it alone."

"They're not going to capture anyone else. Rika, maybe, but… I'm sending her somewhere safe…"

"Without… you?" she asked quietly.

I looked away, blankly staring out towards the group. "They're not going to stop looking here for Rika. I don't want you to convince them she's gone."

"So we're mindlessly going to fight them for a motive that doesn't really exist?" Cooper asked.

I shrugged. "If that's how you want to put it, then yes. Kevin, I'm sure you'll enjoy this."

"Normally, yes." Did that mean Kevin was_ actually_ feeling bad?

I sighed. "Rika… You're going home. They won't look for you there after the war."

Rika sniffled. "H-home? W-why home? I can't go back! Not without my brothers!"

Kevin groaned.

"Look, no arguments. This is how it's going to happen and I won't have any buts about it. Cooper, I need you to try and help everyone out here. Paradox needs to be able to stay in communication with Gwen, Julie, Kevin, Alan, and yourself. See if there's anything you can do."

"Got it, Ben."

"I have to go help Rika find the ship, assuming it hasn't been found already by anyone else."

Paradox nodded. "Don't worry."

"Good. Now, Paradox knows when they're attacking. And… I assume it's not just the feds this time."

He nodded. "We have the prison guards as well as American soldiers coming in after us. We should fight the extra terrestrials rather than spending the most of our time and energy on the humans."

I agreed. "I'll meet up with you guys in the fight. Come on, Rika…" I turned away from them, walking towards my bike.

Rika leaned over to pick up her mask, placing it on her face slowly. "Wait, Ben… Aren't you going to say goodbye?" Rika asked, quickly catching up with me.

I shook my head. "No more goodbyes. I'm coming back. I've already proved that once…"

Rika latched herself onto my arm, unwilling to get on the bike. She knew I was taking her to find the ship, and that meant flying herself _home_. Not to the apartment… Back to her home planet. "Ben, wait. I can't… go back."

"You have to. I already told you, all of you, no arguments."

"Well, you're going to have to listen to this one!"

I grabbed my helmet off of the bike, turning to face Rika.

"I need Aikka."


	22. The Hardest Goodbye

"Just stay out here. I'll go get him."

"Thanks, Ben…"

I stepped off the bike and walked up to the house. I found a note on the door.

_Ben. I thought you might come after Aikka, since everything seems to be going wrong every time we meet up. Assuming this meeting will turn out how I think, I locked the cat in the downstairs bathroom. You can take him whenever. Be careful… Please, don't slip up. I don't want to have to visit your funeral._

_Gwen_

I sighed, stuffing the note into my pocket.

"What was it?" Rika asked.

"Nothing, don't worry about it." The house was unlocked, not surprising since she wanted to make sure I got the cat. Either way, whether I had to use Big Chill to get in or the door was unlocked, I was getting in there.

I stepped through, leaving the door open. I don't know the layout of the house, probably because I'd only visited a few times. However, I knew where the bathroom was, and that was all that mattered.

Looking down, I saw one brown paw and one white paw sticking out from under the door. I couldn't help but laugh, even in this depressing situation. "Move, little Aikka. I don't want to squish you."

Surprisingly, the cat quickly moved, hearing my voice. I pushed the door open slowly, finding Aikka sitting quietly on the floor, watching me. He meowed quietly.

I smiled. "I'm gonna miss you, little guy. As annoying as you are…" I leaned over to pick him up. He didn't seem to resist, and hearing a quiet purr told me I was forgiven for whatever I'd done before. I groaned. "Please, don't make this harder than it already is. Rika's going to throw a fit when I tell her I'm not going with her…"

He lurched up, rubbing his head against my chin. It was comforting…I almost felt as if everything was going to pan out all right, even if I had to suffer in the process. I'd done it once before. I'd torn down my morals and helped the enemy, saving my friends and the planet in the process. Now, I hoped the prison council would see fit to at least hear my story.

After all… they can't kill me right away. They wanted my information. That interrogation in the first few hours I was there told me no matter how things turned out, they wouldn't let me die without getting what they wanted. And chances are they still won't.

With the way Paradox spoke about Rika and I…

I can't die. I can't get killed.

I can't fail this time…

I walked over to their dining table and scanned the surface. I set Aikka down for a moment and pulled my wallet out of my back pocket. I left it on the table, everything I'd given Kevin the first time still in there.

"Rika," I whispered to myself, carrying the cat outside. "Rika, hold him for a minute. Let me get your jacket." I'd kept it in one of the compartments in my bike, knowing she wouldn't need it unless it got cold or rainy on one of our rides. She never complained it was cold any other time…

After handing her the cat, I unlocked the box and pulled the grey hoodie out and straightened out the wrinkles. "Here, trade you."

"You better give him back. He's all I have." With the tone in her voice, I knew it was a stab at me.

"Hey, be nice."

"I don't owe you anything, Ben Tennyson. I don't see why I have to be nice."

I closed my eyes, looking away from her. She was mad I was leaving. She told me I was going to get killed and I wasn't listening. I would be mad, too, but I'd at least try to change their mind…

Once her jacket was on, she stole Aikka back from me without hesitation and wrapped him up tightly in the jacket. I grabbed my helmet and pulled it on over my head. I jammed the keys into the ignition and mounted the bike.

"It's not like you not to argue back…," Rika told me, carefully holding the cat while climbing onto the bike.

I ignored her statement, kicking off the bike. My initial plan was to take the bike from one side of the park, drive directly through the grass and onto the clearing in the middle of Central park where Rika could find the ship.

Compared to what happened to the cat earlier that day, I don't think the motorcycle ride through the park fazed him in the slightest.

I looked over my shoulder, slowly stopping the bike in the tall grass. "All right, you're the only one who knows where it is," I said, pulling the helmet off.

Rika carefully climbed off the bike, clutching the kitten in her jacket as she looked around the field. "There. Right there," she pointed out ahead of her.

I hung the helmet on the handlebars, following after Rika. "You made it disappear, you have to, well, pull another stunt."

"You say it like you don't believe I can." She stepped forward into the middle of the field, leaning her shoulder against a non-existent object. In a moment, it reappeared. "Happy?" she grumbled.

"Yeah… _Ecstatic_. Come on, I gotta make sure the ship's all right."

Rika rolled her eyes. She set Aikka down on the ship's ramp to let him walk around. "I know how to fly the ship. Can't you just get out of here?"

"Why, so we can both regret or last words with each other? I don't want to leave on the wrong foot. I did that with Julie and I've regretted it ever since. I'm not about to do it again."

Aikka brushed up against my leg. I tried to ignore the cat.

After a long moment of silence, Rika looked down before rushing up to me, wrapping her arms around me. "I'm going to miss you, Alien Boy. Even if you are a pain in my ass…"

I laughed. "Yeah, well, don't make me tell you what I had to tell Aikka."

"What'd you tell him? .... Oh. You know, that cat loves you. He says, "He's a loon, and if he had feathers I'd eat him. But you love him, and so do I." I don't love him, you stupid cat."

Aikka sat down.

"Shut up. Be glad he can't hear you."

"What?" I laughed. "Did you spill your guts to the cat while I was sleeping?"

She let go of me. "Well, what you do when you're awake is your own business."

I smiled. "I don't think I have to hear the cat to know what he said… Now, look. I made a promise to Kevin and Gwen. I'm not going to make the same promise to you." By leaving my wallet with the two of them… That was my promise to come back. Gwen would know… I left it here to begin with in _hopes_ I would come back someday. Now that I'd come back and retrieved my information, leaving it here while I'm gone will serve as a symbol that I _am_ coming back. I could make that promise to them without regret, even if I couldn't follow through.

With Rika, I can't make that same exact promise. I can't promise that I'm coming back the same person. Nor can I promise her that I'll come back for her any time soon…

"I don't want to get your hopes up. I don't want you to hang onto any empty promises that may or may not pan out… Rika, I don't even want to say goodbye because even that could be a lie. Aikka… he's your cat. He's been your cat since the day you saw him."

Rika pulled her jacket off, tossing it across the ship. She'd always complained about clothes sticking to her skin, so it's not surprising. I wouldn't be surprised if she ditched the rest of the clothes she'd got here on Earth.

I rubbed my neck, trying to avoid any promising words.

"Damn it, Ben, just say you're going to miss me and get it over with. At least I'll know that's the truth."

I stepped closer to her. "But that means you'll have something to hang onto while I'm gone." I cringed, running back over the words. "…. while I'm gone." That was an incriminating statement. It implied I was coming back.

"Aikka says you're full of it."

"I don't care what that damn cat has to say! I'm trying to tell you that I don't want to hurt you if this goes bad."

Rika looked down.

"I'm trying to say I might die out there and there could be nothing I can do to prevent it, and you're a _damned_ fool if you thought otherwise. I'm not invincible. If I die, who knows what's going to happen to the Omnitrix. Vilgax has proved to be a bigger threat than anyone. He's come back from the dead many times and even though he's gone for now, who knows when he'll strike again. ((**Even I am surprised he's coming back in the third season. I had enough of the damn guy when Ben was ten.**))

"You're an idiot for following through with the escape. I don't know what got into your head but you did it and broke out of the jail with me. I don't know what will happen to you when I'm gone but there's a damn good chance they'll kill you too, no matter what your original sentence was.

"You've changed my fate and I hate you for it. But there's nothing I can do."

Rika continued to look at the ground, letting out a short breath.

I smiled. "What's even worse is you won, Rika." She suddenly looked up. "I didn't give up. Not once. But you woke up smiling every morning… You were so intrigued by our mess of a human race no matter what happened. And those stupid grapes… You didn't have coffee, or chocolate… It was so trite and childish, but every stupid little thing you did chipped a little piece of my wall down."

Rika smiled, laughing in disbelief. "I can't believe it. I won? _Mu jumal võlmratulo…_"

"Yeah, yeah, now that I've pretty much screwed myself over here with incriminating words, I might as well say it. I'm going to miss you, and I'm going to miss that damned cat. I still can't promise I'm coming back…"

"Well you pretty much made everything ten times worse, now. 'Cause I'm going to miss you and every day I'm going to wonder when I'm going to see you. Ben… do you know how empty that planet is? My… my brothers are gone, now… Everyone is dead, and if they aren't they're locked away in that damn prison! You and Aikka are _literally_ all I have left. If anyone hates anyone in this room it's me! I hate you for leaving me like this. The least you could do is say you're coming back."

I shook my head. "What if I don't?"

"What if I know you will?"

"You don't…"

Rika looked down again.

"You can't hide from this," I told her, lifting her chin up. "If I could hide from everything I would, trust me. But this is one thing you can't hide from. You're going to have to go home. Anyone left on that planet needs you more than you need me."

"You're an ass," she muttered, trying to tear her gaze away again. Though, I wouldn't let her. It would hurt more to escape and come back a year later to a strange reality you know nothing about. I did that for _five_ years. When I didn't have the Omnitrix, I felt like I was free from it all. I hid from the world that surrounded us and forced everyone to make it seem like it never happened.

I had to open my eyes just when life was getting good and it tore me apart. I rather die and lose the Omnitrix than lose it and be hidden from reality. Again.

"I'm not an ass. But I probably will be one now… I can't leave… not without doing this." I leaned forward and kissed Rika. It's going to break her heart to leave after this but I had to do it. It would kill me if I didn't. I didn't want to die without telling her the truth, if the fact was that I was going to die. I'd already dug my own grave and kissing her wouldn't have made much of a difference.

I tried to pull away, but Rika wouldn't let me. She didn't want me to go, and neither did I. But if I didn't go… everything was going to get a lot worse. "Rika… Rika, stop, I really have to go."

"Move and I'll break your arm," she threatened.

"Break it. I'll have a better chance of dying."

She sighed, letting go of me. "You really are an ass."

"I told you," I mumbled. "Rika… I really have to go…"

"Fine, go," she told me, turning around.

I stuck my hand in my pocket, remembering one key item. "Wait." I pulled the strange necklace out of my pocket, stringing it around her neck. "Don't lose this."

She looked down towards her neck, resting a hand on her badge. "I almost forgot about this thing…"

I smiled. "So did I."

"Here," she said, turning around. "I don't need it anymore." She pried the mask off her face. "Maybe it'll come in handy?"

I shrugged. "Maybe…," I said, taking the mask. I turned around and began to walk away. Though I felt bad… I didn't want to leave without saying goodbye. But wouldn't that be a lie? What if I was coming back? Goodbye is forever…

I looked over my shoulder. "…See you later."

She smiled. "Later, Alien Boy…"


	23. Our Surrender

"Ben, are you sure about this?"

I nodded. "Absolutely. I've already screwed myself over, there's no going back now."

Paradox sighed. "If you're sure… You have thirty seconds."

I nodded again. "Perfect. Guys! Fall back!" I shouted, running towards the others. Everyone was helping with this, Julie and Gwen included. Even though Alan and Kevin were designated to fight back, this was a critical step—if everyone wasn't fighting to keep them away, we would die, myself included.

"Fall back? Are you insane?!" Kevin shouted.

"Trust me on this one! We're done! Just… just give in." I fell to my knees against the asphalt, putting my hands behind my head.

Looking over, Cooper was watching me. In a moment, he copied my movements. Gwen followed, then Julie, Alan, and Kevin. Paradox tried to argue with the demeaning factor of getting on his knees, but he gave up and warped time and space around him to disappear.

This was only the beginning.

This was our surrender.

The alien troops didn't hesitate to overtake us. Like I suspected, they knocked each of us over onto our stomachs and immobilized us. I'd told them not to resist if they won. What I didn't tell them was my plan to surrender.

Gwen, Kevin, Cooper, Alan, and Julie would be taken in by the American soldiers for debriefing. They wanted to know anything I told them. And whatever they didn't get from them… they hoped they would get from me.

From one end of us to another, handcuffs were quickly put in place. Except for me… I received a high-tech stasis shield for my Omnitrix and a painful injection in my arm.

I took in a deep breath, watching my friends as they were carried off only moments before my vision faded completely, and I lost consciousness.

ooo

**So this is where I cut in to tell you the next part is a dream. Or… a memory, more like it.**

**It's also my explanation as to what happened, so you'll understand better when Ben is explaining things to the council, and why he was imprisoned in the first place.**

**Off we go…**

ooo

I was moving as fast as I possibly could, rushing around the small apartment I called home. I needed to gather everything important to me. Material objects didn't matter, but they did if you wanted to legally exist in this screwed up nation.

I needed everything—social security card, driver's license, birth certificate, etc. This is what legally made me Ben Tennyson. If… if I was going to make it out alive, I would need this in the end. I stuffed the important documents into my wallet, dragged my keys off the counter, and rushed out of the door.

I promised I would be back to help in a minute. I promised them the war would be over.

This is one of the worst enemies yet. They don't just want revenge… they want to see the destruction of our world. And unlike some crazy, power-hungry lunatic, their revenge is seemingly justified. Our government set up a discovery mission to their planet and unset the very fragile balance of their ecosystem.

Our spacecraft had life on it. No, not humans. Bacterium was able to latch itself onto the craft and made it into space. Even with their procedures and 'baking' techniques, we screwed up. Now… the fate of the world was at stake and only the Plumbers that we could gather in a very short amount of time could help us win the battle.

It all felt like déjà vu—the DNAlien Highbreed attack all over again… Unfortunately, the Highbreeds were still at peace with us, and these were nowhere near as novice as the Highbreeds. As daunting as it was to defeat the DNAliens… this will prove to be a tougher task that we have to complete ten thousand times faster.

If this isn't done today, win or lose, everyone is screwed.

ooo

"I'm back… Gwen! I'm back!"

Gwen quickly looked over her shoulder. "Oh, thank God. Kevin! Ben's back!"

"Get out here! We're dropping faster than flies!"

I nodded, quickly rushing out to Kevin's position. "Kev, I'm not helping out here."

The man Kevin was holding in the air by the neck began to squirm as Kevin just held him there, looking at me like I was insane. "Are you _fucking_ crazy?! We're going to _die_ out here and you're not going to help?!"

I sighed. "Listen to me. I… I'm going to help them."

Kevin instantly dropped the alien man. "You little _fuck_! You're going to ditch us and become a traitor?! I'll kill you!"

I quickly backed away and lifted my arms across my face. "No!" I yelled. "No! I'm… I'm just doing to deter them with unimportant truths…"

Kevin stopped just before latching his hands around my neck. "What are you saying, Tennyson?"

"I'm going to tell them what they want to hear, but nothing that will put you or anyone else in harm's way."

Now Kevin was extremely confused.

"J-Just let me do it! H-here…," I reached into my back pocket, shaking as I handed him my wallet and keys. "Please, keep these safe."

Gwen quickly ran over, shielding us. "What are you two doing?! You're going to get killed!"

"I-I don't know how this is going to turn out," I told them both.

"Ben, what are you thinking of doing?" Gwen asked, sincerely afraid of what I was thinking.

I sighed, my breath still shaky. "I-I'm going to become a traitor. G-guys, I'm not doing anything wrong. If I get caught… I'm going to get sent to prison… Probably for life, if not, the priority of death row."

Gwen grunted, trying to keep the shield around us. It grew harder to sustain as many attacks brutally crashed into the strange energy field.

"We're done! Our asses are _fried_. If… if I don't try _something_… We're all going to die," I gave up.

I caught a look on Gwen's face out of the corner of my eye. Gwen had given up as well. She knew it was over… she knew there was nothing else we could do, and false treachery was all we had left.

"I have to do it… It'll kill me inside if we don't make it out of this, and I did nothing to try and help."

"You're going to risk your life to save your mental state? You're a damn fool," Kevin growled, though he took the wallet and keys I gave him. That was proof enough to me that he knew I could do it. "Look kid. We'll get you out of there. I don't care what it takes, but if things go bad we're pulling your ass out. Don't worry."

Gwen looked up towards Kevin. We were both surprised by his sudden take on what I was about to do.

Kevin gripped my shoulders. "_I promise_ I won't let you die in there."

I couldn't look away. Kevin shook me when I tried to look down, and I was forced to look back at him. I knew that look in his eyes. He knew it was over. He knew there was nothing left they could do for anyone. I looked over toward Gwen. She knew it was over, too.

I nodded slowly. "All right…. Okay… Okay. Let go. Kevin, let go."

Gwen sighed. "Hurry. I don't know how long I can hold this shield!"

I nodded to the both of them and ran for my life. I went as far as I could through enemy lines before being injured. One of the soldiers happened to graze my arm with a shot and had me off-guard. That's when I was instantly taken down.

The man yelled strange words at me in some unknown language, but I complied with his actions and got down onto the ground. At least four men (or what seemed like men) surrounded me, and two picked me up and dragged me off.

At least things were going according to plan. I could've done without the bullet hitting my arm, but whatever gets the job done…

I was carried up to a large ship, heckled at by passing warriors. One of them spit in my direction. I couldn't resist and fight back, as much as I wanted to kill them. If I fought back I would still be considered an enemy. If I complied, it could turn out one of two ways—I die, or they listen and let me 'help.'

The warriors threw me on the ground before their better and awaited their decision.

The leader spoke in a language I did not understand. It sounded as if no vowels were present in their alphabet—if they even had one—but no intelligible words were found, not even notions to what he wanted from me.

I carefully, and slowly, stood up, brushing myself off. "I want to make a deal," I told him, hoping he understood English.

"What would you have," the creature began, "that we could possibly want, human?"

"I have information. I know my government's weaknesses and how to take them down." Sadly, that was the truth… I rather our armed forces died than the entire planet, and anyone that survived was better than no one surviving. Let's hope the council sees it my way if I have to appeal my case…

"You? Help us?" he cackled. "What do you want in return, human?" He thought this was some kind of joke.

"All I ask is you leave as soon as this is over. You leave the planet it tact and stop killing civilians! Our government is at fault, not the general public."

If I thought he was laughing before… The man soon burst out into a fit of laughter, and his soldiers joined in. "You truly think this is about your government?"

I was afraid to look at the creature. I had no idea what their leader looked like, but that mystery was best saved if I was to be killed for looking directly at him. Strange planets bring strange customs and sometimes it's better not to ask what they are and avoid fatal mistakes at all costs.

"Our government funded, ran, and carried out the discovery mission to your planet. The general public has nothing to do with this! We had no say in what they did and how they did it. We're just sitting ducks! If you attack us you're no better than our government. Kill us civilians and you'll slowly lose connection with the planets around you. Everyone will be afraid to step foot near you, afraid you'll want to destroy our planet.

"How do you think our planet got so screwed up?! As soon as our government stepped in, aliens no longer existed. We relied on in-planet resources to keep us alive for the next million years, and guess what? We're running out. We banished aliens and now one-fourth of our population has gone _mad_, thinking they're seeing creatures that supposedly don't exist.

"We have people standing on street corners in Eastern Asian countries shouting about Armageddon with a sign hanging around them that reads, "This is the END!" We've got people in India telling us 2012 is still going to happen! We have telescopes the size of your _ship_ to investigate these far-away planets to realize that once they're in our lives, the government is going to have to tear down each of our homes and brainwash us all to make it seem like it never happened.

"Truth is, if you guys _didn't_ exist, we would probably be living in a world like the holocaust. All day. Every day. We can't live without you _stupid_ aliens, but our government tries _really_ hard to make it seem like we can." I laughed. "If you kill us civilians, you'd be no better than our government. But if you kill our government… you'd be doing us all one _hell_ of a favor."

"…Leave us," he commanded the warriors in the room, and they quickly did so. "Strange human… You've won me over. Tell me what it is you know…"

ooo

They pulled back their soldiers and loaded their ships, listening to my every word.

"D.C. is a good place to start. There isn't much here in Bellwood."

"And this will guarantee our planet's safety?"

I nodded. "Both of ours. You can rebuild your planet and we can work on reforming our government."

The creature grumbled.

ooo

The fight dragged out through the night. They didn't seem to be needing sleep for quite some tine, their stamina being much better than mine, and my human instincts were telling me to get sleep.

I was failing to cooperate, my brain not functioning well enough to provide exact information.

"Tennyson! What are they likely to do? Answer me!"

I yawned. "They won't attack. They know they're outnumbered here." I yawned again.

The creature growled. "You've done us no good here. We can take our your forces easily. I'll keep up my end of the bargain and leave, but you made no mention to your wellbeing. I think you'll be happy to know I've called your little… Plumber society and told them about their traitor."

That's when I instantly woke up. My entire body was focused on what was about to happen next.

"You have two minutes to get off my ship. They'll meet you on the ground and carry you away to… wherever they decide," he laughed.

I looked at the man for the first time and was stunned by his appearance. The man almost looked human, with the exception of his clothing style and strange accent. I was shocked, but not surprised he would commit treachery against _me_. If he was human, it was common. If he wasn't… he was falling to our level.

I expected better from them…

ooo

I ran as fast as I could once I was back on the ground. I didn't want to get caught, but the alternative wasn't so good either.

They were going to take me to intergalactic prison and I was to be sentenced. They could kill me and I would have no say in any of it.

I slowed to a stop and fell back on the ground, crossing my legs. I gave up. There was nothing else I could do. The alternative was running for them for the rest of my life. After a while… I would run out of breath. I can't run forever, and with the chance I may get off with only a life sentence…

It's better than nothing.

Welcome to Intergalactic Jail, Tennyson…


	24. Broken Spirits

**This is the part where I tell you tragic news D:**

**Okay well not really tragic, but…**

**I'm going to split each chapter into two chapters (which may change later) to write in separate PoVs. Yes, it'll be Rika and Ben, you wouldn't think I'd leave her behind, would you?! Haha.**

**Anyway, I'm getting pretty damn close to the end of the plot. After this story, I really want to do another continuation story with Ben and Rika. It won't be like my others where I'm continuing the story on in another, well, story. I'll be creating an entirely new plot for the two of them.**

**I'm terrible at making plot, though. If any of you gracious review-submitting readers as of right now would like to help out, please PM me or send in a review. Any ideas are appreciated!**

**Yes, I'm talking to you, Roses 'n Horses, MegaPea, TrueLight, and Maxwulf. You guys have made my day by submitting reviews most recently and I'd like your help! Pleaseee? haha. I've probably PMed each of you by now but just in case I haven't…**

**In any case, the story must go on until the very end!**

ooo Rika ooo

This planet….

I knew nothing about it. I'd called it my home when I was much younger, but now it was just as foreign as Earth…

It was nighttime now, longer than the planet I'd most recently called home. Our moon shown a different color than that of Earth's, giving a variety of a more opalescent rainbow than a stark white. Our sun was different, too. From the far away stars, the sun was a beautiful blue, yet on land it was as similar as Earth's own.

I've never liked change... At least I had someone to pull me through it.

Now… now I have no one.

I'm all alone…

ooo

"Please, don't cry," Aikka begged, rolling over onto his back. "You're home, Rika… You should be happy." Aikka depressed the long grass under him, as did I. Our planet was covered in the long, tan grass, the only exception being where we'd cleared paths for the marketplace. Those streets were now bloodstained, not even fit for a peasant to walk on.

I shook my head. "What else can I do? I'm alone here. I'm literally the last of my kind and you're telling me not to cry…?"

Aikka hummed. "Well, when you put it that way it sounds pretty bad. But I don't like seeing you cry."

"You… you tell me why I shouldn't cry. You knew how happy I was on Earth. How happy I was to get away from… from this bloodshed! It's hell on this planet! You were the only one that knew the truth. Even Ben didn't know how big a miracle it was to run into him."

Aikka smiled.

"I had no intention to love him in the end…," I sighed. "I knew he would be my key to escaping all of this. I just didn't think he would make me come back…" I fell back onto the plush grass and lifted my arms straight up, sweeping my hands across the starry sky. Mother used to bring meteor showers from far away galaxies for my brothers and I to watch before the war got too out of hand.

"He's very nice," Aikka laughed. "Crazy, but nice. He suits you very well." Aikka crawled over to rest on my stomach.

I smiled, wiping my face.

"I swear if we ever see him again, I'm going to claw the hell out of that bike of his."

"Why?" I asked, laughing.

"One, I'm never going on that thing again. Two, I'm not going anywhere with him. That guy found it funny to eat me!"

I shook my head. "Would you have rather been in the water?"

"…I'd rather have been killed by those soldiers."

I laughed. "Aikka, Ben just wanted the best for you and no matter how unorthodox and stupid his ways may be… Let's just put it this way, he's not too good at thinking on his feet."

"Agreed," Aikka said quickly.

I sighed, looking back up towards the stars. "Do you think we'll survive here alone?"

"If not," Aikka yawned, "we can always leave."

I shook my head. "Ben told me to stay here. Leaving could risk my capture…"

Aikka stretched out a paw, letting it rest across my side. "What if you are captured? Wouldn't that be a good thing?"

I sighed. "I'll be under lockdown… I'll have no chance of finding Ben, even if they don't kill him."

Aikka smiled. "And there's the loophole." He quickly sat up. "_What if they don't kill him_? If they don't kill him, they'd be going against what Kevin said. Kevin said it's pretty much an instant death to get captured. If they don't kill him, who's to say they'll truly put you under lockdown?"

I smiled, closing my eyes. "That's assuming they don't. I don't want to take that risk."

Aikka's tone changed. "So you're just going to sit here and do _nothing_? You think they're going to kill him, don't you?!"

I opened my left eye. "Ben was lying… He was lying when he told me that he was coming back. "No more goodbyes. I'm coming back." He was lying."

"He was unsure. I could hear it in his voice. When we were on the ship before he left he didn't want to say anything incase it turned out to be a lie. _Goodbye_ is a lie only if you're coming back."

I smiled. "So he _is_ coming back?" I asked eagerly.

"No… I can't be sure. By saying _see you later_, he wouldn't be lying even if he didn't come back. According to many Earth religions, there is a Devine presence… They believe, or most of them at least, that there is a heaven and hell. An afterlife. Ben said see you later… whether it was after the ordeal… or after his death…"

I closed my eyes again, trying to force back tears. What was the point in trying if Ben wasn't coming back?

"Look," I breathed, picking Aikka up as I sat up. "Why don't we just try to get a good night's rest tonight and worry about the rest tomorrow?"

He smiled, closing his eyes.

"Good."

ooo

**Okay. Now I'm a little sad. I just planned out the end and it boils down to three chapters left.**

**Three. Until the end.**

**D:**

ooo Ben ooo

I sat at a desk, holding my head in my hands. My head was on fire… The anesthetic or tranquilizer had really burned a hole in my arm and slowed my thinking process to a standstill. When I woke up, I found I was missing a shirt and wearing pants I knew for a fact I hadn't put on earlier this morning.

My shoulder burned, screaming. It was my inked shoulder… Maybe they added to it? Glancing downward towards it, I noticed a large welt where they had filled in an uninked circle in with black. Great.

I looked down at my feet finding my shoes to be missing. Whenever I was to be interrogated they would remove my shoes… What I still didn't get was why I didn't have a shirt. The room they'd tossed me in was freezing.

The instant someone stepped into the room, without looking at them, I spoke up. "I don't know," I told them.

The girl laughed. "You don't know _what_?"

"It's the answer to all of your questions. I don't know."

"You don't know… or you're not going to tell me?"

I looked up. She was my age. "Oh, I'm going to tell you guys everything. Just not _you_, specifically." I put my head back in my hands, facing the table's surface.

She didn't have a folder… or a degrading demeanor either. She sat down in the chair opposite to me. "Well… I assume that's a request to face the council…"

I shrugged. "I just want out of here."

She sighed. "Ben, they're not going to listen to you."

"I meant out of here, whether that meant death or freedom. I came here expecting death, anyway."

She reached out, resting a hand on my shoulder. "Then you know what's going to happen."

I nodded.

She stood up. "They're waiting for you. I'll have a few guards take you down there."

I nodded again, my head hitting the table. "I'm sorry, Rika…," I muttered to myself.

The woman turned around. "Rika?"

I turned my head on its side to look at her. "Yeah…"

She looked away. For some reason, I felt like the woman saw it my way. Did she know the story? Did she know why I did it? I highly doubt it… but maybe she knew I was telling the truth when I said I was innocent.

"Ben, I'm so sorry," she whispered.

I lifted my head back up and hit it against the table a few times. "Don't worry about it. I can't take any more tears anyway. I left my girlfriend back home… my cat… my family… my friends…"

She tried to speak again but quickly turned away, leaving the room.

I sighed. There was nothing left I could do…

ooo

**Sorry this chapter's so small. The next one will be a bit longer. I promise!**

**I think this story will be over tonight… Sorry to say…**


	25. It's Our Battle, Now

**With the season premier just around the corner, I'm having second thoughts about integrating his new aliens into the sequel. Then again, I saw the preview for Vengeance of Vilgax and saw Brainstorm's silhouette… If Brainstorm is still there then the continuity is screwed up.**

**I don't know if I'm ready to give up my two favorite aliens, Swampfire and Echo Echo… OH and you can't forget the once-used (or twice, I forget) GOOP! He just hasn't had a long enough time with these guys. I don't want to have to get to know an entirely new set of aliens and their personalities before writing.**

**Hell, if I have to I'll write a new story with his new aliens just to implement them. **

**(Strike that, Goop has been used at least twice. I'm watching an episode and he **_**just**_** used him, and it's not the Gauntlet episode.)**

**You know now I'm pissed. I'm watching a sneak peak and Big Chill is in it. I think the continuity is screwed up. I like it that I get to keep my aliens (xD) but I don't like that they lied to me.**

**Piss off Man of Action. Wait, don't. Well, okay, maybe you can. Just keep Ben alive cause I love him XD**

ooo Ben ooo

This was the beginning of the end… I was to be carried off to a council who probably wouldn't listen to me, then off to my death.

I knew that no matter what I said, there was a greater chance I would die than live… even if it was in a cell for the rest of my pathetic life.

I didn't have much to hope for in this. Even if I live. What would I do? Escape again? I couldn't do it without Rika. She was the distraction… for the most part… She held of soldiers I couldn't have fended off alone.

I sighed.

"Come on, Ben. It'll be all right."

I looked up. "Liar."

The girl sighed. "Yeah… but you can't be sad… I'll feel worse if you're sad."

I smiled. "Why?"

"When I was younger… when I'd just learned my mother was a plumber, I got to learn all these cool bits of information about _everyone_. People that I'd never imagined to be caught up in the alien crap were in the thick of it.

"You… probably don't remember me… You got stuck in Home Ec. freshman year."

I laughed. "That's the only reason why I know how to cook an egg… and bake cinnamon rolls."

She smiled. "Yeah, I was the reason why no one ever got any help from the teacher. Mom and I were stuck in Bellwood and she was assigned to keep an eye on this stupid kid with the Omnitrix."

"Stupid?" I asked, laughing.

"Don't blame me, they were her words. She said, "He's reckless and he's giving a bad name to Bellwood. The only reason the aliens are here is because they're after _him_ to begin with! Go watch after Ben Tennyson. I'll get you a school transfer tomorrow." I didn't believe her about the Plumber business until I met you."

"So, how'd you get mixed up in this jail mess?"

"Mother was incarcerated under false pretenses. I thought if I worked with them I could help prevent those kind of captures." She looked at me. "I guess I was wrong…"

"Considering I'm here, yeah…"

The guards at the door instantly straightened up, seeing us. The two commanders holding me upright spoke to the alien guards in a strange language and they let us through the gate. Looking behind me, the former classmate gave a sad smile and a wave farewell.

I sighed and faced the ground, ignoring the rather dauntingly high ceilings and ominous lights. There was a council of at least twelve, each identical in every way. I'd met them once before in this very room… the metal walls and lack of a jury were cold and unforgiving. They only added to the disappointment of the conviction.

"How much longer is this going to last?" I asked the guards.

"Hopefully… not very long," he laughed, a malevolent look in his eyes.

I sighed and took my stand in the middle of the room. Again…

ooo

**For anyone who was watching the sneak-peeks on Monday, L-O-L to that one during War of Worlds!**

**First, he falls out of bed like he's never seen someone suddenly appear before him before. Then he belches as if he's alone (WOOO) Then he blatantly tells the guy he could probably turn into him without regard that the man is trying to be sociable.**

**Either he's becoming really lazy with the Omnitrix or Ben just got 10000 times funnier!**

**But as soon as the guy leaves he acts like the stupid award didn't matter! What the hell! 10-year-old Ben would've turned around and threw it in Gwen's face. LGJSLDKJGLSDKJG**

**Someone please tell me what happened!**

**Oh yeah. He became a teenager [:**

ooo

"Benjamin Tennyson… To what do we owe the pleasure of having you before us _again_?"

I looked up. "So, what? You don't know?" I laughed. "I _escaped_ out of your impenetrable jail! I think it's time to rethink your security system."

One of them some five council members down chimed up. "It wasn't you who we were worried about escaping. We were more worried about those Sapphire Sun beings coming after you. Truthfully—"

One of the other councilmen continued for him. "She should get your sentence. If it wasn't for her escaping—"

"And her brothers disappearing, the Elemental princes would probably have taken the fall for you, human." **((Ben's Humongousaur says Banana funny [: ))**

"Wait, wait," I cut in. "They were _killed_."

"_Killed_?" the center one laughed. "Well… this is all besides the point. You already know your punishment for treachery."

I shook my head. "No! You know _nothing_ of my reasoning! I was _saving_ earth by leading them away! I watched them kill our—my President. I watched them take down everyone in office!"

One of the councilmen laughed. "You do know that's pointless, correct? Your feeble government is housed elsewhere! The… 'Whitehouse' as you call it is nothing but a political front! Didn't it seem a little odd how you can replace your so-called leader so quickly?"

"Well, duh! The only reason why I told them about our 'leader' is because it was pointless to have him 'leading' to begin with! Our government _was_ a political front but it saved our hides. They rebuilt their Whitehouse staff in no time flat… By the four days I was gone they already had the lowest ranked soldier left alive running as President.

"They were going to destroy the planet and anyone else they could get their hands on. I don't know what kind of brainwashed, unbiased creatures you are, but I wasn't just going to stand around and do _nothing_!

"Someone had to die for the trade to at least seem fair, and I wasn't going to let innocent citizens die. It was either us, or the political front. I chose the one that mattered the least."

Someone sighed. "You're the only resolution in the galaxy if one species was to die out. You could've let them destroy everything and recreated it in seconds. You held onto emotional attachments and let them rule your decisions. Benjamin Tennyson—"

"We release you of your treachery conviction."

"However, your conviction for escaping the jail still stands."

My jaw dropped. "You're willing to overlook a steep charge, yet you're going to convict me on an unimportant matter compared to that?!"

"We hereby sentence you to _death_," they all spoke together.

"For incapability to keep you locked in a cell, the only choice we have is to—"

"Kill the wearer of the Omnitrix by way of Earth's standards—lethal injection."

"The Elemental girl will be captured and killed as well."

The guards surrounded me in an instant and grasped my arms.

"WHAT?! You're going to kill me on a minor charge?!" I screamed. "You should at least be smart enough to kill me for what I deserve! Stupid! If you're going to kill me, do it right! Bastards, listen to me!"

Lights started turning off one by one and the councilmen disappeared with them. I promised myself I wouldn't fight against it, but this was ridiculous! They were going to overlook my treachery… yet they were killing me for something so stupid! Unlike Earth, however, death row was literally instant. Instead of wasting money on imprisoning convicts on death row, they man up and kill them right there after their conviction…

As soon as I was carried out of the room, reality hit. I was going to die.

Ben Ten was going to die… along with the rest of the world.

Would I have a speech? A little message to those who respected me as thanks and farewell to the world as I knew it? It was just as likely of that happening as the council changing their minds about my death.

Did they know what they were doing? They were killing the only possibility of resurrection. I'd already been called out twice to resurrect an extinct species—one of my own will and another by force. They didn't know who they were messing with.

No. They didn't know who they were about to kill off…

The second I'm gone, people are going to start disappearing. Races are going to become extinct the second I'm down for the count. I've been keeping the galaxy in line, even if I wasn't fighting for it. The fact that I could come out of nowhere and kick ass was enough to scare them back into their homes.

I know it'll only be a moment in time before each end of the galaxy knows the Omnitrix is back in the hands of whoever can grab it first. They'll burn my body and the Omnitrix will protect itself. They'll dump my ashes into dead space and the Omnitrix will float with it. The instant someone grabs it, it's theirs. I have no say in who has it.

If… if somehow Vilgax was to come back again… No one would survive.

I closed my eyes and let them control my movements. I was placed onto a stiff gurney and tied down, completely immobilized. My wrists and legs were strapped down in two places, my left arm specifically tied in three.

I sighed. "Could you have been any more unoriginal? Your advanced, for God's sake."

The lights continued to grow brighter as I was wheeled off. However, four stray men caught my eye. They were running frantically around the bridges… as if they were escaping.

"Ben!" one of them shouted. "Great Ten!"

I quickly lifted my head. Only one person calls me that.

One of the four men stopped straight in his tracks and looked at me. He pulled something off that was tied to his pants and held it straight out for me to see. It dangled from his fingers, giving off a bright green glow. It was a Plumber's badge…

I got a better look at the young man and my eyes grew wide. The other three were continuously running wild around the bridges, as if looking for a way out. This one was the younger of the four. His skin was a striking color—blue. His eyes were golden, his short hair silver, and he wore only a brown leather of sorts. His ears were elongated and pointed and his smile was brilliant.

"Don't worry, Benjamin," the man spoke, yet his mouth remained closed—I figured it was telepathy. "I am Tano. Thank you dearly for taking care of our sister. Everything will turn out as planned, Benjamin. Hold your breath. We're on our way home… We won't forget you, Great Ten. Not after everything you've done for us. Good luck. We'll meet you on the other side."

My head fell against the board. I quickly closed my eyes and tried to think. That was Tano, the younger brother Rika was telling me about. That meant they weren't dead…? What about Kevin? He said they were murdered.

I clenched my jaw. I couldn't push questions toward Rika—or her brothers—and her powers. It would only raise confusion and I didn't want to make it any more difficult. However they are alive, I don't know, but it must have something to do with wanting to keep their sister alive.

I sighed, relieved. My death wouldn't be in vain then. Rika had family, now, and she wouldn't be alone for long…

I smiled to myself, awaiting the future… or lack of one.

They locked me up, alone, in a stark white room. I was freed from my imprisoning ties and allowed to walk around momentarily.

I sat down directly in the middle of the room and looked at my Omnitrix.

"We've had some good times, eh buddy?" I laughed dryly. "Looks like the end..."

The Omnitrix began beeping loudly.

"Oh, what now?!" I growled.

"Incoming transmission," it repeated over and over again.

I quickly covered the green device as two men dressed in solely white walked in. "In..cmn…trm…sn," the Omnitrix continued to announce, though the words were muffled by my hand.

I flashed a cheesy smile to the men. "Shut up!" I growled through my teeth.

"No wonder they're killing him. He's nuts!" one of them laughed as if I couldn't hear him.

I growled. "Shut up, shut up, shut up!" I shouted now, bashing the Omnitrix against the ground.

Another gurney was rolled in. Now this one seemed like something you'd expect—straight out of a sci-fi movie. Maybe I just watched too much TV to expect any different…

I was swiftly lifted onto the translucent board and quickly tied down once more.

"Don't you ever get tired of killing people off?" I asked through the Omnitrix's constant pleas.

"Just shut up and let the medicine run its course," the one man sneered, shoving a large needle into my arm.

My eyes widened as my arm began searing with pain. My vision quickly blacked out and everything went numb.

"Ben!" I could hear. "Ben, please… Oh you better get this message…"

I felt like my eyes were closed, and upon trying to open them I found myself in a similar realm as the Omnitrix. Whenever I'd tried to repair genetic damage I was brought here. This time it was different. I couldn't reach the Omnitrix for the transmission and the selfish little piece of technology got fed up with waiting. It demanded I hear what this person had to say.

"Ben, they're back. I-I don't know what to do…"

ooo

**This is where it gets confusing. Because this is the last chapter (apparently) I have to split it to Rika, then back to Ben. Confusing. Just bear with me.**

ooo Rika ooo

This is my planet. This is the bloodstained sphere I called home. Aikka suggested I take a look around in hopes I'd find some hope among the wasteland.

"Don't you think that _someone_ has to be left alive?"

I shook my head. Tears seemed to fall at random times… I had no control over it anymore. "I watched them kill everyone. I knew all that lived here… not one of them were spared."

"Don't you think your brothers would be alive here? From what you've told me about preservation, each of your ancestors are alive in the walls of each building."

I snapped my fingers. "Right! They're probably swimming in the cesspool of unimportant people murdered over the thousands of years I've been alive!" I yelled at him. "Right, like that'll help us any!"

Aikka's ears pinned back to his skull, his eyes shifting downward. "I'm… sorry, Rika… I didn't know…"

I sighed. "No, it's not your fault. I'm just…"

"It's okay," Aikka smiled. "I know what you're going through. You have a legitimate excuse. I forgive you." His tail lifted back into the air and his ears rotated back around. "Ri—Watch out!" Aikka shouted, his fur quickly standing up.

"Wha--?"

"Sister!" someone laughed, bowling me over into the tall grass.

I screamed, scrambling in their grasp. "Get-get off of me! You better get off if you know what's good for you!" I opened my eyes slowly, now facing him. Tears quickly filled my eyes as I met a pair of golden orbs and blue skin.

"T-Tano…," I muttered.

The boy pushed himself off of me, sitting up on the ground. "Sorry, sis. You know me…"

"Aliens," Aikka laughed.

I quickly shot up, bowling Tano back over. I wrapped my arms around him as tightly as I possibly could, tears streaming down my face. "Brother! How did you …. Where did you …. You're alive?"

Tano nodded. "Sis… I can't breathe…"

I paused for a moment, then quickly sat up, straightening my clothes. "Sorry," I smiled. "You know me," I echoed his words.

"I do. That's what makes it funny," he laughed.

I felt odd, now. I was wearing these strange clothes… while Brother was wearing our traditional attire.

Why am I thinking of _that?!_ My brother is alive! I should be asking him a million different questions!

"What in the hell are you wearing?" he asked, almost ironically.

I rolled my eyes. "They're a gift. I left my other… clothes… Never mind. How are you still alive?! Kevin said you were all murdered!" I rubbed my face free from falling tears, though that didn't stop them from falling in the least.

He smiled. "Well…"

"Drikrgia!"

I looked up. "You… all survived?" I asked Tano, seeing the rest of my brothers running in my direction.

"Actually, we never died. I don't know what kind of idiot you were talking to but—"

"Sis!" the eldest of my brothers picked me up off the ground, twirling me around.

I giggled. "I'm really glad to see you too, Takolo. I'm getting dizzy."

Tak put me down, laughing nervously. "Sorry, sis. I just didn't expect to see you alive. Why… do I smell human…?"

Tano laughed. "Benjamin," he smiled.

"That kid we saw in the jail?"

My jaw dropped. "You saw my Ben? Where is he?!" I grabbed Keolan's shoulders, shaking him.

"Whoa, whoa, wait, sis."

Tano looked up.

"Sis," Tak began.

"Benjamin… he… didn't look so good," Ixxes sighed, rubbing his neck.

I ran up to Ixxes, grabbing his hand. "NO!" I shouted at him. "Don't do that! That's Ben's nervous tick!"

"Whoa, what's gotten into you, Sis?" he asked, backing away slowly. **((One thing I thought I might add in is that Ixxes is pronounces Ick-sez. Weird I know but I love weird names if you couldn't tell!))**

Tano, Tak, Keo, and Aikka laughed. "Love," they said in unison.

"I _don't_ love him! I just… have some kind of obsession for him…"

Aikka sat down, laughing. "There's not much of a difference."

Keo nodded.

"Look, Sis," Keo began. "Benjamin… he's not going to make it…"

"His thoughts weren't all too promising," Tano added, standing up. "He knew he was in over his head."

I ran up to Tano. "You. You know what's going to happen! Tell me! NOW!"

Keo and Ixxes rushed to my side, holding me back from Tano.

"Rika, you have to calm down. I'm not going to tell you anything…"

Tano had the luck of the draw. He knew how to hide something from me. He had the perfect poker face and not even I, his older sister, could break it. I was the oldest of the group, yet they acted like I was the youngest.

Though I was the least mature… Probably at Tano's level. Even Tano knew he acted older than me. I didn't mind. I knew my rank as the older sister and I took charge as leader alongside Tak if the situation called for it.

Aikka looked at Tano, then back at me. "You can't press him for answers, mate. This guy has a tighter security system than the prison you escaped from," he laughed.

I growled, still under restraint. "Is he …. going …. to live?" I asked through clenched teeth.

Tano looked away. Most of the time that meant no. Other times it meant that he wasn't going to answer me in _any_ case.

I growled. "ANSWER ME!"

Tak walked in between Tano and I and raised his hand, slapping me.

I looked down for a moment, then back up at my brother with an angered stare. My golden eyes burned into his skin and I knew Tak felt it.

"Look, I don't know what's going to happen but your boyfriend knew what he was doing."

"Shut up!" I shouted.

"You need to listen to me, Rika. You're being ignorant. You're letting your emotions rule your decisions **((Sound familiar?))** and they're screwing with your head! Do you have _any_ idea who's coming here?!"

I stopped. "…What… are you saying?"

"We're under attack. Again. The only reason we disappeared was to delay the attack and to give you and Benjamin time to get to safety! We knew word would reach you _very_ fast. That gave Benjamin time to get you to safety. We were right to trust him," Tano looked at his brothers and they all nodded in agreement.

"Those bastards are on their way back here. The second they found out you'd escaped, they wanted to put you in your place. And they're _all_ coming. Every last warship."

Keo and Ixxes cautiously let me go.

"So we're going to die, too?" I asked quietly, falling into the tall grass. I didn't bother to cross my legs.

Tano sat down. "We're not going to die… and _that_ I'll tell you."

I laughed involuntarily. "You should meet Paradox. He knows all about the future."

He smiled. "I know. We'll meet him soon."

I fell completely back into the grass, facing the sky. The sun was warmer today than it normally was here, though it was nothing compared to Earth's sun. There was comfort in those rays, like suffering and pain was erased the second it was shown down on every living being.

It was different there.

I liked it better there.

"Sister," Tano sighed. "You need to keep your thoughts away from there. It'll only make it hurt worse."

"Make what hurt?" I asked. "Ben is going to die! You know that better than I do. How can you just sit there and—"

Suddenly, Tano looked to his left. "Get down!" he shouted.

Three.

Two.

One.

The ground shook violently and my brothers quickly followed his instructions. Aikka leapt onto my chest and I held him close. "Close your eyes," I whispered to him. He did so, and pinned his ears back. We all stuck close to the planet's surface as a large cloud of dust, debris, and smoldering rocks flew by in a large explosion.

"Tano!" I screamed.

"Stay down!" he shouted over the deafening blast.

Aikka's claws dug into my skin as the debris began to plant itself in his fur. "Please, don't let anything happen to me!"

I held on tighter to the young cat, wishing it was over.

This was the attack Tano was talking about. The war… we're right back in it again.

The gust of wind suddenly came to a standstill and Tano shot up. "Get up! We don't have long!"

I got to my feet and set Aikka on the ground. He could run faster than any of us. "Go!" I shouted.

"Keo! Ixxes! Get to the base and attack anything that moves!" Tak ordered.

"Hey!" Aikka objected.

"That doesn't look like any of us!" he added.

"Right!" the two agreed, running in the opposite direction. Tano and Tak grasped my arms, pulling me forward.

"One minute until the next bomb!" Tano announced.

I nodded, stopping in my tracks. Tak and Tano ran off ahead.

I yanked the Plumber's badge from my neck and tapped the center. "Ben!" I shouted. "Ben, please… Oh you better get this message…" The badge flashed. "Ben, they're back. I-I don't know what to do…" I began to cry, falling to my knees.

Aikka looked up. "Ben…"

ooo Ben ooo

"We can't handle this war on our own… You know the story better than anyone else! Our warriors are dead… Ben, I need you."

"No!" I shouted, whether it was audible or only in my mind I couldn't tell.

A loud, piercing sonic scream blasted through the air. It wasn't from Rika's end.

The Omnitrix… it must've been defending itself. With the chemicals in the injection… My DNA was being compromised and it didn't like that.

"Please… if there's any hope… We _all _need you." I could hear the tears in her voice. "You can't lose this time, Ben! You can't die… You have to live!"

The world around me disappeared yet the screaming remained. In a flash of green light, the world returned, along with involuntary movements.

"Alien X!"

Now… now I was someone on the sidelines watching my own escape… I'd vowed never to use this alien again, but how can I follow through when I had no choice? The Omnitrix acted on its own… and I have absolutely no say in what I do next.

With the Omnitrix taking control, Serena and Bellicus have absolutely no voice in what happens… as much as they would like to.

"Welcome back, Ben!" Serena smiled.

"Not so nice to be here," I grumbled. "Better than dying, I suppose."

She gasped. "Your friend…"

"Oh, just shut up and let him hear the message!" Bellicus growled.

"Rika…"

"Tano, Keo, Tak, Ixxes, and I can't fight this battle alone. Ben… I'm begging you… I don't want to die!"

ooo

**I hate to cut it at a cliffhanger but…**

**Okay, I love cliffhangers, but that's it! Look out for Lifeline, the sequel to Captured! Should be up later today.**

**It's going to be a long ride, I have a minimum of 40 chapters planned out for Lifeline! Have fun guys!**

**Love you all [:**


End file.
